Magic is a funny thing. When we see a magician perform, there is a mutual understanding between performer and audience that what is being presented is an artful illusion.
We also eagerly embrace fictional representations of real magic, like Harry Potter or Bewitched. In a way, this is the same thing: We are watching performers pretend that magic is real, yet there is an unspoken understanding that it is all make-believe.
But what if we were to encounter real magic? Would that completely disrupt our understanding of reality?
Or would we simply relabel it “physics”? In other words, is the term “real magic” an oxymoron? Is magic, by definition, that which cannot actually exist in reality?
For a long time I have considered: Magic is anything I don’t (yet) understand