Magic Versus Science: Difference between revisions

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* In the sequel to ''[[John Dies at the End]]'', the man in black implies there is a perfectly logical scientific explanation for him seeming to appear out of thin air. "It's not magic." However, when they ask about the invisible chair he is sitting on, he says that that actually ''is'' magic.

* [[Gregory Maguire]]'s ''[[Wicked (novel)|Wicked]]'' has the following explanation:

{{quote| '''Miss Greyling:''' Science, my dears, is the systematic dissection of nature, to reduce it to working parts that more or less obey universal laws. Sorcery moves in the opposite direction. It doesn't rend, it repairs. It is synthesis rather than analysis. It builds anew rather than revealing the old. In the hands of someone truly skilled, it is Art. One might in fact call it the Superior, or the Finest, Art. It bypasses the Fine Arts of painting and drama and recitation. It doesn't pose or represent the world. It ''becomes''. A very noble calling.}}

{{quote|'''Miss Greyling:''' Science, my dears, is the systematic dissection of nature, to reduce it to working parts that more or less obey universal laws. Sorcery moves in the opposite direction. It doesn't rend, it repairs. It is synthesis rather than analysis. It builds anew rather than revealing the old. In the hands of someone truly skilled, it is Art. One might in fact call it the Superior, or the Finest, Art. It bypasses the Fine Arts of painting and drama and recitation. It doesn't pose or represent the world. It ''becomes''. A very noble calling.}}

* In the ''[[Hell's Gate]]'' series by [[David Weber]] and [[Linda Evans]], this is taken to a more literal extreme than most - it's about a war between two rival civilizations, one of which has a 19th century tech base and a bit of psionics, the other of which is at largely the same functional level, but whose "technology" is entirely magic-based.

* In the [[Myth Adventures|MYTH Inc.]] series by Robert Lynn Asprin, Perv, homeworld of the Pervects (Perverts, to people who don't like them), is influenced by both Magic AND Science.

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* Done a bit in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "The Shakespeare Code". The Doctor explains that while humans took to numbers and science, [[Monster of the Week|the Carrionites]] took to words and magic. Interestingly, it seems as though this is not a phenomenon unique to the Carrionites, as it seems that nearly anyone can use the system.

* The [[Made for TV Movie]] ''[[wikipedia:Paradox (film)|Paradox]]'' (based on a comic of the same name) was set in a parallel universe where [[Magitek|magic was the basis of technology]], and science was seen as superstition. The main character, a [[Cowboy Cop]] who distrusted magical evidence, was derided by other cops with lines like "What do you want to do, dust for fingerprints?" His [[Love Interest]] was a [[Granola Girl]] who advertised herself as a "Professional Pragmatist", and was able to identify a nonmagical explosive (gunpowder) and a nonmagical narcotic (cocaine) as being based on the ancient scientific beliefs of the Chinese and Incas. They also visited the science-based world, and [[Winston Churchill]] (who's a powerful wizard in this world) speculated that the reason it never developed magic was that it contained more [[Cold Iron|iron]].

{{quote| "Magic has limits. Science has limits. But when magic couldn't cure cancer or get us further than the Moon, we gave up. Science never gives up."}}

{{quote|"Magic has limits. Science has limits. But when magic couldn't cure cancer or get us further than the Moon, we gave up. Science never gives up."}}

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* In the ''[[Unicorn Jelly]]'' universe, it's a clear case of the "opposing ideologies" version; the Alchemist and Wiccan factions each have their own delineated areas of influence and (supposedly) agendas, and each is forbidden to dabble in the other's bailiwick. This state of affairs is the result of a [[Government Conspiracy]] involving the leaders of both groups to keep the rank and file of the nominally "scientific" Alchemists ignorant that their "research" is mostly pointless busywork and the nominally "mystical" Wiccans from realizing that their "magic" is really just [[Doing in the Wizard|varied applications of physics and chemistry]].

* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' subverted this in their version of Cinderella. The Fairy Godmother launches into a speech expecting the titular [[Mad Scientist]] to go along with the trope, but Cinderella simply [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20081205 upgrades her magic wand and announces]:

{{quote| '''Cinderella:''' "Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!"~~<br />~~

{{quote|'''Cinderella:''' "Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!"

'''Fairy Godmother:''' What's with the quotation marks? Who said ''that''?~~<br />~~

'''Fairy Godmother:''' What's with the quotation marks? Who said ''that''?

'''Cinderella:''' '''''ME!''''' }}

* In ''[[Adventurers]]'', Ardam reminds that, at least in an [[RPG Mechanics Verse]], [http://www.adventurers-comic.com/d/0152.html "Technology and magic do not mix. Remember? Someone goes crazy or things explode."]

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** Also, Linkara (he has a magic gun) versus Dr. Insano (who uses SCIENCE of course)

* Parodied in ''[[Kickassia]]'', with [[The Nostalgia Critic]] using electromagnetism on Dr. Insano. Insano says that's no match for science, and Critic reminds him electromagnetism is still science.

* This becomes a major plot point for [[That Guy With The Glasses]] third anniversary special, ''[[Suburban Knights]]''.