Fictional culture and technology

[Karro]

Okay, the focus has been on technology and religion. What about magic?

In any high fantasy environment, where magic is fairly common and out in the open, there will be a cultural impact. A culture will form dependencies on magic that will inhibit technological advancement. For example, why bother producing a washing machine when you can conjure water elementals to do it for you. Or, why produce gunpowder when your elite guard can be outfitted with magical crossbow bolts that do far more damage. Obviously there will be some technology, as the economic trade-off between magic supply and raw muscle power balances out. There will be items that we may consider "technological" that would be powered by magical means.

Edit: I think there was a castle toilet thread somewhere around here that started down magical waste disposal for a while.

Well, this certainly adds a level of complexity to any cultural analysis, that's for sure. My high-level thoughts on the issue of magic are that the impact of magic on these items are correlated to the level of magic within a setting. While that sounds somewhat obvious, it breaks down like this, with respect to the earlier emphasis on the mystery and outlook on the world: a world with low magic might have the effect of increasing the mystery in the world, insofar as rare magic is likely more misunderstood and, well, mysterious to the majority of people. Thus, whenever something is unknown or unexplained, it will garner a magical explanation, even when there is actually a rational or non-magical one. Further, where there is real magic, it is likely to be held in fear and awe, as something unknown and conceptually powerful. In such a world, much as in our own, real technological solutions will eventually develop. The question as to whether it will rival magic as a means to solving problems depends in part on how rare as well as how powerful that magic is, and whether further study and exploration of magic will make it either increasingly common or more powerful over time. Such a world could become less magical and more technological over time, or it could become more magical over time.

Conversely, if magic is relatively common in a world, this could easily lead to a situation where mystery and fear of the unknown are reduced to a greater degree. In this case, the "magical" explanation probably is the real and rational explanation for an unknown phenomenon, and there are likely decreasingly few phenomena that lack a thorough understanding and magical explanation. Ordinary people will increasingly look upon magic, or at least upon the results of the use of magic, as mundane, possibly even beneath notice, even if they continue to regard the practitioners of magic with a sense of mystery, respect or skepticism.

Essentially, these views on magic are corollary to Clark's Third Law (wrt sufficiently advanced technology being indistinguishable from magic, and Niven's corollary being any sufficiently advanced magic being indistinguishable from technology). Of course, this is only one possible interpretation of the prevalence of magic in a world and the effect it will have on the outlook of that world's inhabitants on their environment.

Had a bit of a dig around online, and this is the main site I was thinking of which goes into various considerations with world building, also of possible interest is this site which lists important questions to consider.

As for sister site, not sure if thats the correct term, but I was refering to the others in the Fantaseum Alliance, specifically the Campaign Builders Guild

Thanks for the links! I will have to check them out as time permits!