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Worldbuilding

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    $\begingroup$ Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 30, 2015 at 1:39
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    $\begingroup$ Re "define 'magic'"... It means what you think of as "magic" in your context. You've excluded religious 'miracles' (whatever those are) and simple mind-reading cons that rely on simple stage tricks (but not ones that rely on advanced technologies perhaps rendered on a mid-air display?) We do some fancy stuff today that most "people" aren't aware of. Technology from just a couple decades from now would baffle all of us. $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 30, 2015 at 2:25
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    $\begingroup$ I think the main thing here is the scientific culture, so to speak. Any culture that builds on reductionism and naturalism will tend to see advanced technology (and will revise what is and isn't possible over time). On the other hand, a culture where nature is ascribed to the acts of spirits, would not have even a tiny bit of a problem with believing that cell phones are magic - they accept all the "magic" around them already, so what's another piece of magic on top of that? $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 1, 2016 at 2:52
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    $\begingroup$ "Since the supernatural cannot be verified empirically, it does not exist." Well, that goes rather far. I cannot empirically verify justice and beauty, but it hardly follows that therefore these don't exist. Or in a much more concrete sense, the police may not be able to empirically verify who committed a murder, but that hardly means that therefore there was no murderer and the victim must therefore still be alive. $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 3, 2016 at 5:08
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    $\begingroup$ Surely the biggest question here is simply - "Do they already believe in magic? If the answer to that is yes, then the chances of assuming some piece of tech is magic will be vastly greater. $\endgroup$ Commented May 2, 2018 at 21:57