Originally Posted by
vwdieseljunkie
Yeah, well, I am also still waiting for proof that there is a god. Does my disbelief in a vengeful, omnipotent, omnipresent entity have anything to do with whether or not one exists? No. That is why I made the comparison to prayer and incantation. Though through belief, neither has anything to do with the other, yet they are both the same in my opinion.
But, you are right sarnian, extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. So magic does not exist because I can't make your keyboard fly off your desk while you type, unless I was there with you to yank on the cord. But that's ok with me.
As someone who has spent a great deal of time in the company of practicing Wiccans (and other various paganistic beliefs that "use magic"), I had learned to keep my mouth shut and my eyes open, and not make it too obvious that I've got my tounge in my cheek and often trying not to smile, or worse, laugh. This is as serious to those who believe in magic as prayer is to a Christian.
I can make water burn, hell I can make water expload VIOLENTLY. It's not magic to me, it's provable, tangible, boring old science. But to watch the eyes of those who witness me do it, even after explaining what the reaction was, you could see that it was still magic to them. It was extraordinary.
The argument against magic is like the argument against religion. Until the omnipotent one comes home, or someone turns you into a toad, we are left only to believe what we choose. It's the inability to positively disprove the actual existence of either, that keeps it believable to the individual.
Am I making any sense?