Magic/Explanation Necker Cube

Steve Witham (sw@tiac.net)
Fri, 31 Jan 1997 05:49:50 -0500


Joy Williams says:

>[...]I remember the last time I saw a Rainbow.....It was a triple...awesome.
>And though I understand why they occur, I really didn't want to think about
>that when I saw them, I just wanted to enjoy them.

I've found a techie-sounding way to talk about this.

A "magical" perception and an explanation are two ways of
looking at something that are mutually exclusive like the two views
of a Necker cube. If you can see both at the same time, then it's not
this particular kind of "magic." There are other sorts of wonder,
beauty, interest that are compatible with normal modes--in fact I
think magical experiences often settle into these tamer (yet valuable)
forms. But if you don't know this fragile wild kind of magic I think
you...er...have something to look forward to.

--Steve

--
sw@tiac.net           Steve Witham            http://www.tiac.net/users/sw
"...the Vild, where the manifold was as dangerous and deranged as a
 Scutari shahzadix in heat." --David Zindell