Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-31381501-20180112121107/@comment-34296310-20180112133136

I once read a short story which viewed magic in a particular way, can't find it now though.

It took place in 20th century in a universe where every living being has magic-like powers of varying magnitude. Long story short, it didn't shy away from explaining how magic works in their case. In this universe human beings essentially reality-warp what they understand on a small scale, the deeper their knowledge, the more they can influence.

Aka. if you only know that fire needs fuel and is hot you can set fire to that fuel and can only increase temperature to a small degree. As soon as you know that fire is just a product of quick oxidization, you no longer need traditional fuel, essentially become a standart fire-bender and can increase temperature further. As soon as you realize that fire isn't necessary and temperature is only the energy level of atoms, you no longer need oxygen to increase temperature, levels of heat you create increase in geometrical progression. Once you understand how heat works on a quantum level, you may create plasma and gain the ability to incinerate and set aflame even things that are considered unflammable. And etc., the further you go the stronger you get... Or more so, you learn to influence things on a scale far smaller. The truth is, the smaller the scale is, the more significant are the changes you can make by influencing it.

It went further into detail and explained that a metaphysical force called 'mana' exists, which is separate force of reality from matter and energy, but one that can influence both and be influenced as well. Living beings can use it to influence reality because the electromagnetic brainwaves(and yes, this is a real thing) we produce are just conveniently fit to cause chain reactions in mana that lead to changes in matter and energy, the more intense the waves, the stronger the effect(think hard, think fast, be clever, have high levels of brain activity and knowledge=become a stronger mage) is.

Very confusing, I know. But it is a thought experiment that proves that magic can, and probably IS tied back to science in some way, no one just realizes it or the author didn't bother to explain(or can't explain). Science explores every aspect of reality after all.

Also, in every fantasy reality where magic needs to be learned this concept can be applied.

Human mind's interface->Metaphysical force influenced by certain conditions->Effects of required conditions meeting ripple through other universal forces->Reality is influenced in bizarre ways, and no one knows how it happened->Someone discovers how it works through observations and experiments->The knowledge gained through this is used to create some form of magic.

I am sorry if I made it too convoluted, I really am, but this should provide the answer.

Yes, I am a huge nerd.