Contemporary Magic Practices

I’ve generated five stipulative definitions for magic: stage magic is a performative art in which neither performer nor audience truly believes that magic is taking place; magic proper is what we find in fictional accounts such as Harry Potter; type N pseudomagic describes real phenomena outside of present scientific models which could be studied, explained, and understood, but which have not been; type K pseudomagic describes real phenomena which are magic-like in character and which are explained by present scientific models; and type P pseudomagic is magic performed for the purpose of creating some personal psychological effect. Type K pseudomagic does indeed exist, with electromagnetism being an example. The potential existence and nature of pseudomagics type N and P will be explored in this essay.

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