Magic

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<center>{{q|Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.|Arthur C. Clarke}}</center>
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{{cquote|'''''Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.'''''|||Arthur C. Clarke}}
  
 
'''Magic''' is the art of making things happen that appear to be impossible. It is an ancient art, used over the centuries for both entertainment and [[deceit]], and knowledge of magical techniques figures heavily in the modern skeptical community as a means of detecting fraud amongst those who claim [[paranormal]] powers or phenomena. When magic is used in the name of religion is it called a [[miracle]].
 
'''Magic''' is the art of making things happen that appear to be impossible. It is an ancient art, used over the centuries for both entertainment and [[deceit]], and knowledge of magical techniques figures heavily in the modern skeptical community as a means of detecting fraud amongst those who claim [[paranormal]] powers or phenomena. When magic is used in the name of religion is it called a [[miracle]].

Revision as of 18:27, 15 February 2010

Pseudoscience Alert
This topic is a pseudoscience, and is not accepted by the scientific community as a valid discipline.
Although it may use scientific terminology, it does not use scientific methodology.
Remember: just because it sounds right doesn't mean it's actually right.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
—Arthur C. Clarke

Magic is the art of making things happen that appear to be impossible. It is an ancient art, used over the centuries for both entertainment and deceit, and knowledge of magical techniques figures heavily in the modern skeptical community as a means of detecting fraud amongst those who claim paranormal powers or phenomena. When magic is used in the name of religion is it called a miracle.

Magic is of several types, depending on the scale and techniques used. Most magicians start off with sleight of hand techniques, which are meant to mimic teleportation and telekinesis effects on a small scale, while others specialize in mentalism, which imitates the claimed effects of psychic powers, particularly clairvoyance and telepathy. Stage magic is magic on a larger scale, including seemingly impossible escapes (Harry Houdini, a well-known rationalist in his own right, was the master of these), survival tricks, and large-scale apparent teleportation effects.

Overall, unlike in the scientific community, the tricks used in creating magical effects tend to be closely held, with exposure of the mechanism considered a form of treason to the magical community. Penn & Teller have made a long career of apparently exposing tricks (largely their own); however, magician Leonard Montano drew strong criticism from the magical community for doing the Breaking the Magicians' Code specials on the US Fox network in the 1990s, largely for exposing other peoples' effects that he had no right to.

Magic has also been used fraudulently; much of the Spiritualist movement of the 19th century was based on fraudulent use of magic by people who claimed to be mediums, and in modern times self-proclaimed "psychics" such as John Edward, Sylvia Browne, and Uri Geller use mentalist techniques such as cold reading deceptively to fleece the desperate and credulous ("talking to the dead" has long been a conceit of would-be psychics, meaning that many such people are preying on those vulnerable after a loss of a loved one).

Several of the best-known skeptical authors, including Martin Gardner, James Randi, and Penn & Teller are trained magicians, as is debunker Derren Brown. Skeptical magicians have been critical to exposing the bad behavior of alleged psychics and faith healers; Randi's two biggest trophies are Uri Geller and Peter Popoff.

Magick

Magick is a term sometimes used by the more spiritual pagan believers for what happens when magical thinking becomes religious in nature, but it's not politically correct to call it a prayer. It is not to be confused with stage magic, where everyone knows it's really a trick. (Of course, as with anything with neopagans, there are various shades of belief here--some think that trying to come up with a difference in terms is ridiculous.)

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