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Old 3rd January 2013, 06:37 AM   #1
headscratcher4
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Ask A Wizard... 9 rules of wizardry...

For your information:

http://whofortedblog.com/2013/01/02/...itual-warfare/
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Old 3rd January 2013, 07:47 AM   #2
gambling_cruiser
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This guy who tells us we know nothing has written his BS on a magical device I guess, can't use a computer, nah.
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Old 3rd January 2013, 10:20 AM   #3
P.J. Denyer
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According to John Constantine there's one true secret of magic......
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Old 3rd January 2013, 10:31 AM   #4
Joe Random
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1st rule of Wizardry : ALWAYS carry a few latumofis potions with you if you're going down below level 4.
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Old 3rd January 2013, 10:33 AM   #5
aggle-rithm
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Originally Posted by Joe Random View Post
1st rule of Wizardry : ALWAYS carry a few latumofis potions with you if you're going down below level 4.
I thought it was "never talk about wizardry".

Even if it's not the FIRST rule, it's not a bad idea if you don't want people thinking you're a kook.
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Old 3rd January 2013, 04:24 PM   #6
tsig
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Originally Posted by headscratcher4 View Post
He hooked up the BS machine to the bafflegab generator and produced a bunch of psuedo profundity.


Reality is too restricted for some.
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Old 3rd January 2013, 04:42 PM   #7
100
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The eighth doctrine is that the distance between wizard and philosopher is undetectable, save that the philosopher lacks the courage to identify herself or himself as an occult magic user.
I don't remember discussing magic in my Logic course at all. I'm taking Ethics next semester, so maybe that's when that will happen. Or maybe magic is a higher level of philosophy.

Can any philosophers here tell us when we get to do magic?

Last edited by 100; 3rd January 2013 at 04:45 PM.
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Old 3rd January 2013, 05:35 PM   #8
Night Walker
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Originally Posted by 100 View Post
I don't remember discussing magic in my Logic course at all. I'm taking Ethics next semester, so maybe that's when that will happen. Or maybe magic is a higher level of philosophy.

Can any philosophers here tell us when we get to do magic?
I’m no philosopher but I’ll give it a go:

Words and language have POWER. A subtle change in emphasis or the wording of a sentence can dramatically alter its meaning and impact. More than simply referring to things, through the use of words we are not only able capture, construct, and reconstruct events but to spread such events across great distances and well beyond the here and now. Words conjure images and can affect the manner in which we understand and engage with the world around us.

To be able to affect one’s own world or that of another through the use of words alone is magical, I guess, but it is something other than “courage” which separates the wizard from the philosopher…
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Old 3rd January 2013, 05:57 PM   #9
Strawberry
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I think somebody's been reading too many Harry Potter books.
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Old 3rd January 2013, 05:58 PM   #10
tsig
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Originally Posted by 100 View Post
I don't remember discussing magic in my Logic course at all. I'm taking Ethics next semester, so maybe that's when that will happen. Or maybe magic is a higher level of philosophy.

Can any philosophers here tell us when we get to do magic?
I think making p-zombies is a type of magic.

Teh quality of qualia cannot be strained but falls on philosophers as a gentle rain.

Last edited by tsig; 3rd January 2013 at 05:59 PM.
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Old 3rd January 2013, 07:03 PM   #11
Turgor
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Sufficiently lengthy gibberish is indistinguishable from magic*
*may not apply if critical thinking is applied
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Old 3rd January 2013, 07:11 PM   #12
DragonLady
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Originally Posted by Night Walker View Post
I’m no philosopher but I’ll give it a go:

Words and language have POWER. A subtle change in emphasis or the wording of a sentence can dramatically alter its meaning and impact. More than simply referring to things, through the use of words we are not only able capture, construct, and reconstruct events but to spread such events across great distances and well beyond the here and now. Words conjure images and can affect the manner in which we understand and engage with the world around us.

To be able to affect one’s own world or that of another through the use of words alone is magical, I guess, but it is something other than “courage” which separates the wizard from the philosopher…
Actually.... I believe there's a lot of truth in that.
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Old 3rd January 2013, 08:44 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by 100 View Post
I don't remember discussing magic in my Logic course at all. I'm taking Ethics next semester, so maybe that's when that will happen. Or maybe magic is a higher level of philosophy.

Can any philosophers here tell us when we get to do magic?
At your Ph.D. confirmation you have to levitate a copy of Parfit's Reasons and Persons. (It used to be Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics before the spiritual warfare and subsequent spiritual genocide of the mid-eighties left most of the senior Philosophy faculty without spirits, although they were of course seemingly completely unharmed to the eyes of knowlessmen).

Normally I wouldn't reveal this, of course, but I've built up a high wall of spiritual sandbags around my spiritual bunker, and thanks to cost-cutting in the tertiary sector in recent years I'm reasonably sure the local universities can't afford enough spiritual napalm to get me.

In any case, if you people reading this post tried to explain the truth about spiritual warfare and The Others to the general public you'd just get laughed at for being a loony or locked up and medicated for being schizophrenic. We philosophers really do have all the bases covered.

Last edited by Kevin_Lowe; 3rd January 2013 at 08:46 PM.
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Old 3rd January 2013, 08:53 PM   #14
Astreja
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Magic is easy.

All you have to do is control the effects by controlling the causes.
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Old 3rd January 2013, 09:02 PM   #15
geni
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Originally Posted by Night Walker View Post
I’m no philosopher but I’ll give it a go:

Words and language have POWER. A subtle change in emphasis or the wording of a sentence can dramatically alter its meaning and impact. More than simply referring to things, through the use of words we are not only able capture, construct, and reconstruct events but to spread such events across great distances and well beyond the here and now. Words conjure images and can affect the manner in which we understand and engage with the world around us.
Yes but thats PR.
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Old 3rd January 2013, 10:24 PM   #16
100
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Originally Posted by 100 View Post
I don't remember discussing magic in my Logic course at all. I'm taking Ethics next semester, so maybe that's when that will happen. Or maybe magic is a higher level of philosophy.

Can any philosophers here tell us when we get to do magic?
In hindsight, this post was really stupid. I apologize.
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Old 4th January 2013, 04:05 AM   #17
Craig4
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I found the claim that the article provided insight into an often misunderstood mindset to be false. The lunacy of the article pretty much matches my understanding of the mindset of people who believe in magic.
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Old 4th January 2013, 04:11 AM   #18
P.J. Denyer
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Originally Posted by aggle-rithm View Post
I thought it was "never talk about wizardry".

Even if it's not the FIRST rule, it's not a bad idea if you don't want people thinking you're a kook.
After reading the article I'd say that rule one is 'Don't flush unless you know it's the cops' and rule two is 'Those cookies aren't for visitors'.
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Old 4th January 2013, 01:32 PM   #19
Limbo
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Originally Posted by Astreja View Post
Magic is easy.

All you have to do is control the effects by controlling the causes.

That would be quite a trick, given retrocausation.
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Old 4th January 2013, 01:34 PM   #20
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Oh, cripey.

1. Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.
2. Any sufficiently advanced technology will appear to be magic to those who don't understand it.

What else do you need?
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Old 4th January 2013, 02:50 PM   #21
Night Walker
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Originally Posted by geni View Post
Yes but thats PR.
Isn't PR a form of managerial wizardry?
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Old 4th January 2013, 04:36 PM   #22
P.J. Denyer
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Originally Posted by Spockette View Post
Oh, cripey.

1. Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.
2. Any sufficiently advanced technology will appear to be magic to those who don't understand it.

What else do you need?
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
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Old 5th January 2013, 09:21 AM   #23
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Pfah. Real Wizards are appointed by the government, are acknowledged as living works of art, dematerialise on census days, perform successful rain dances, descend from the mountains bearing tablets inscribed with their web address, rescue dogs, cast spells that ensure victory in the rugby, discomfit Ray Comfort and earn the Queen's Service Medal.
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Old 5th January 2013, 09:31 AM   #24
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Originally Posted by Spockette View Post
Oh, cripey.

1. Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.
2. Any sufficiently advanced technology will appear to be magic to those who don't understand it.

What else do you need?
"Do not call up that which you can't put down"

Also, say the following backwards if confronted by a zombie.

Y'AI'NG'NGAH
YOG-SOTHOTH
H'EE-L'GEB
F'AI THRODOG
UAAAH
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