The Dresden Files > DFRPG
Magic and Technology
iago:
Here's my brief understanding of Magic and Technology based on my conversations with Jim on the matter.
Magic is a powerful force and gets directed like a laser in the hands of an unconflicted being. Creatures from the Nevernever usually fit this bill. Their nature and their will are in unity -- they don't have a "free will" that's separate from their nature, in other words. Look at Mab: she is who she is, through and through. If Mab turns you into a toad, she's doing that because her nature is one of something that turns you into a toad, and she has no doubts about it.
On the other hand, look at a mortal spellcaster. A mortal spellcaster has his nature as a human being, and he also has free will. These things are sometimes at odds. He has emotional states, and doubts, and so forth. When he throws magic around, he's probably got to have 99.9% of his mind in line with what he's doing -- he has to BELIEVE that he can do it, through and through -- but it's not perfect. Unlike the unconflicted beings of the Nevernever, a mortal spellcaster has pesky things like self-doubt, a mortgage, emotions, a twitch in that hand that got burned by a flamethrower -- you know, the usual stuff that plagues normal folks. :) So that leaves us with 00.1% of his mind not entirely on the task at hand. Which means we've got a smidge of magic that's not being guided by his will.
It's that smidge of magic that "leaks" out of the spell -- or even just gets shot off by a flare of emotion and intense thinking -- that gets inside of technology and screws it up. So regardless of your perspective on what magic as a *force* is and does, that's *why* the "hexing" effect happens for mortal spellcasters. They aren't perfectly unconflicted, so stuff shorts out.
You can theorize all day as to why "stray magic" causes technology to fry. Maybe it is probability-bending. That's certainly supported by what we've seen; after all it's very improbable that if I point at you that fire will leap from my hand and burn your face off. But magic does seem to change the odds of that happening...
Samldanach:
Wow. That's a really cool explanation for the leak.
So, stronger mages tend to short things out more than weaker mages, because .1% of the kilothaum (to borrow the above Discworld reference) McCoy tosses around is a lot more than 1% of the single thaum Molly is handling (despite the fact that, because of his training, McCoy is leaking, proportionately, ten times less energy from his "pool").
And, it tends to reinforce the theory that different mages affect different levels of technology based on their core understanding. The magic that is used in the spell is guided by belief. The magic that runs stray is also guided by belief, but in a sort of inverted way. The spell is defined by what you believe will happen, and the side effect is by you don't believe will happen. So, if you don't trust cars, phones, or elevators, your stray magic tends to reinforce that mistrust, and they break down. A computer would be really hosed, because even the most devout techie does believe that it will break, and generally at the worst possible moment.
Thanks, Fred!
iago:
Excellent elaboration, man. I think I may borrow some of that idea for the writeup of hexing in the RPG!
Rel Fexive:
Both together make for an (unsurprisingly) excellent explanation, it's true :)
Mario Di Giacomo:
Here's the thing. I'm a computer programmer. Have been for over a decade. That means that I not only am familiar with computers, but that I often have to "think like" a computer.
Wouldn't that suggest that I might think "Gee... I should be able to enchant my computer to protect it from magic, no matter what my teacher says."?
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