Monday December 17, 2012 at 10:30 am by Rojas
Contest is now over! Thanks to everyone who weighed in on the debate between Magic vs. Science.
A Certain Magical Index releases next week, and we've got a fun little experiment for you. If given the choice, would you pick Magic or Science?
The world of "A Certain Magical Index" combines modern science and technology with ancient spells and sorcery. Our hero, Toma, lives in Academy City, a place with technological advancements twenty to thirty years beyond the rest of the world, and whose student residents wield scientifically-honed superhuman abilities. Title character, Index, is a nun of Necessarius, a secretive sect of the Church of England, and her mind contains 103,000 ancient magical texts that are the basis for some of the most powerful and forbidden sorcery in existence. Together with a cast of espers and sorcerers with amazing powers, Toma and Index have plenty of adventures at the intersection of magic and science.
Magic versus science, fantasy versus science fiction. Which side do you prefer? Based on your response, you could win a great prize pack of magic- or science-related anime!
Vote for the side you're on, and if your side wins, you'll be entered to win a prize pack. There will be three rounds, each with a new duo of prizes, on Monday (12/10), Wednesday (12/12) and Friday (12/14). Feel free to tell us why you chose science or magic and we may feature your answer on our blog! Also, tweet your reason with the hashtag #magicVSscience on Twitter, and we'll retweet some of the most interesting ones on our account @FUNimation!
Just click this link to get voting! Click here for complete contest rules.
Round 3 results:
Magic 63%
Science 37%
Lucky winner: Ricardo G. (Auburn, WA)
So there you have it. Fans have overwhelming decided they would prefer Magic in the battle of Magic vs. Science.
Here are some parting words from both parties:
Pro Magic:
"Whereas Science is something tangible, something that can be explained, Magic is a bit harder than that. Magic is something special, something extraordinary, that not only cannot be explained, but just doesn't need to be. Everyone needs something to believe in, some hope to carry them forward. Sure, science is cold, hard facts, but haven't you always wanted to fly as a kid? To see through walls? To do any number of super-powered things some of your favorite heroes did? That is the basis of magic. It gives hope to the normal people, to those not dedicated to the pursuit of what they can only see in front of them. Close your eyes and believe in something new. That is the power of magic." -Lara H
"I chose the Magic side for one reason and one reason only. The Magic side deals with belief which is a matter of the heart whereas the Science side deals with proof which is a matter of the mind. When one thinks about it logically the Magic side is ruled by emotions which are governed by the heart whereas the Science side rules with rationality which is governed by the mind. Me personally I would prefer to make mistakes because I followed my heart and did what I thought was right than do the logical thing and give up on my humanity." -Michael H
Pro Science:
"While some think that one is the power of gods or demons, and that the other is the power of human will and determination, I think that it's much simpler than all of this. There are all sorts of laws which govern the universe, and magic simply breaks them. But however much creative power it takes to imagine up something which can break the rules, it ALWAYS takes more ingenuity to create something which can have the exact same outcome while STILL following the rules. That ingenuity is what science is." -Jonathan P.
"Science makes the impossible possible what seems illogical completely logical. Science is what advances humanity and helps set us apart from wild animals. Without it we wouldn't be near as prosperous as we currently are." -Aaron M.
- Rojas's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Comments
DaRkl30, I understand why someone might think science is boring, but why does that make magic better? Magic is all about not understanding how it works and just having faith that the powers that be will do what they need to do. The fact is that understanding how science works is your choice. It is by no means impossible or even that difficult to comprehend basic scientific rules. It's not that you DON'T understand science, it's that you WON'T comprehend science. I bet if you could comprehend science, you'd realize that it's not so boring.
Oh, and you misspelled "than." Just some constructive criticism there.
Magic all day er day
Magic side all day
To no one's surprise, this has turned into a pointless argument dump. Just the name of this little contest told me that this would happen. It always happens on the internet, sadly.
I choose Magic because its much better then science. Science is so boring if you dont even understand it . Magic is better for that reason.
I've noticed this rationality that because magic is stronger than science that makes it better, which is rather stupid in my opinion. Most animes feature a protagonist that at the beginning is very weak. Pretty much every shonen anime like One Piece or Naruto bases itself around a character that isn't that strong but has ideals that people can't help but resonate with. It doesn't matter how powerful magic is, because we as viewers don't choose which characters we like the most based on raw power, we base them on how well developed of a character they are. Science to me is the underdog of this conflict because while magic fails to evolve beyond where it is, science will always continue to make massive leaps.
Ok so this is how I see it magic you could have unlimited source of supplies and sources to creat things while science can only create stuff that is on chemical substances not all chemicals well mix to you command so I would say magic because it would overpower it
Silfana, PLEASE tell me that was supposed to be a satire. It's not that science "can't" explain magic, it's that science DOESN'T explain magic. There isn't a reasonable explanation for the existence of magic because magic doesn't exist in the first place. OF COURSE in a world of scarce resources people would fantasize about what it would be like if nothing had any limits. That's what we call magic, but that doesn't make it better than our real world. It's like if I said my invincible imaginary friend could beat you up.
If you want to say that a wizard did it because YOU personally don't have the time to find an explanation, then fine, but science itself CAN AND WILL explain it. Saying a wizard did it is a cop-out answer. Why do you think looking at things in a black and white way is a bad thing? The fact that there is no gray area, that there is no doubt when we say something seems more like confidence.
The exact opposite of what you said is true. Religion CAN'T explain the existence of science, and in many cases misrepresents core elements of science and mathematics. In fact, the Bible believes that the value of pi is exactly 3. In one sense, you are right, science doesn't have any proof that God exists, it only has mountains of proof that God DOESN'T exist. Stop thinking of things science doesn't do as things it can't do!
Don't compare the belief in molecular structure to such blind faith in religion/magic. Even if we couldn't find hard proof that air molecules existed at that time, the theory fit with all of our other observations without any holes or counterexamples. In contrast, if dragons did exist, why aren't they the dominant species? If dragons can breathe fire, fly, and are several times the size of most animals, then why would they hide from human civilization? There is already a hole in the logic.
Do you realize what the word "unsubstantiated" means? The phrase "unsubstantiated proof" would mean "unproven proof." How did you reach the conclusion that magic has a stronger argument when even you admit that it doesn't have any evidence to back itself up?
Science is definitely the better side because eventually it will evolve enough to beat magic... cause it seems like no one ever comes out and is like "hey guys i just made this huge breakthrough in magic." but they're always coming up with new stuff in science. and also magic seems repetitive because everything is ancient so its like someone must have done this before.
I believe magic beats science within its own set of rules. Science gives no reasonable explanation for the existence of magic whereas magic has an infinite set of possibilities for how science fits with magic. Magic is not limited to the strict set of rules laid out by the scientific community. While magic can be bound by a set of rules it is not limited. The old saying a wizard did it is an expression explaining a set of circumstances that have no logical reason for existing. Science must explain everything in a step by step methodology or science does not acknowledge the circumstance. It operates in black and white never crossing into shades of gray. Magic has the freedom to wander into spectrums not explored by the scientific community.
This reasoning is much the same as the old argument of science versus religion. Religion can explain the existence of science and include its reasoning but science cannot find proof of the existence of God and thus cannot acknowledge that it exists.
Yet isn't magic just a definition for things science cannot yet prove? A hundred years ago we could not prove that molecules of air existed yet we knew it was real. We had faith that it existed yet air existed in the same realm as magical creatures such as unicorns and dragons having no substantial proof that it existed. I would argue that magic and science are two halves of the same coin. Magic offers the unsubstantiated proof of existence that does not yet exist in the world of science. Magic is merely theory and proposition yet it can offer explanation for things that DO NOT or SHOULD NOT exist. Therefor magic is the stronger argument. Magic wins. Period. <--- see Period--->.
New Comment Added