Magic and Technology
I've heard it said that in a world where magic exists, there can be no advance of technology. Most often I've heard this said in relationship to D&D. I disagree. I think that market forces would drive innovation, creating alternative, technologically based solutions to problems. Here's why:
• Magic is expensive
• Magic is unpredictable
• Magic is dangerous
• Magic is arcane (the knowledge is not easily accessible)
• Magic is Limited
Magic is Expensive
This is probably the most important part. Magic is inherently expensive. New spells are really expensive. Spell components are expensive. It takes time to learn spells, and time is money. Compare the relative cost of casting magic missile to firing bullets, and I think you'll find that bullets are much, much cheaper, in addition to having no real cap on the number you can fire in a day.
Magic is Unpredictable
Not all magic is completely unpredictable, the aforementioned Magic Missile is a pretty workmanlike spell, very reliable. However, there are vast areas of magic that can yield unpredictable results. Wild Magic goes without saying. But summoning magic can have unpredictable results, as can spells like chain lightning when cast. (Cast it in a hall of mirrors or underwater and see what happens.) Furthermore, from the perspective of the layman, the results of magic must be impossible to rely on. The layman has no idea how magic is worked, and is at the whims of the wizard as far as the results he sees.
Magic is Dangerous
You can summon creatures you don't intend to summon, get involved with liches, have magic brews explode, get attacked by other wizards, have a wild magic spell go wrong, or any of a thousand other horrible things go horribly wrong. Again, to the layman, this must appear bizarre and horrifying.
Magic is Arcane
The knowledge required to learn magic is expensive and hard to find or jealously guarded, which makes it both dangerous to acquire and extremely difficult to find. This makes it out of reach for Joe Public. You know what isn't out of reach for Joe Public? The basics of Newtonian Physics. Just sayin'. More importantly, this means that for an ordinary guy who needs help with his crops, he has to find and convince a magic wielding expert to come and help him out. This means he might need a wizard, priest, sorcerer, etcetera. What if the farmer can't convince the wizard to help? Or the priest is of a different religion and is unsympathetic to his plight? The exclusivity of magic puts the ordinary man at the mercy of an elite group of individuals who have no real motivation to help.
Magic is Limited
Gah. How often does a spell work only under certain circumstances, or only a certain number of times a day, or just fail outright? What people want is consistent, reliable, repeatable results. This is not what magic does best. This is the best reason why something like, say, catapults would exist in a D&D setting. A wizard can cast how many fireballs in a day? Well, this catapult can go all day long, continuously heaving rocks, cows, flaming pitch, flaming cows, irritating bards, and flaming bards at the enemy. Okay, how about this: printing. It takes forever to make a book by hand. A printing press, however, means that in the time it takes to write out a book by hand, you can make, like 50 more books. (I'm talking Gutenberg here, not the current gravure/offset litho printing employed today.) It also means that the results are consistent, the results are controllable, and there's no real limit to the number you can knock out. This isn't to mention things like running water, irrigation, architecture, construction, etcetera.
Magic is a really poor substitute for technology. New things and new ways of doing things will be invented, if only to circumvent having to deal with magic users. It's cheaper, safer, easier, and faster. I think that market competition would make this sort of thing happen in any fantasy setting. It also sounds like a fun wrinkle to a fantasy setting, if you ask me.
• Magic is expensive
• Magic is unpredictable
• Magic is dangerous
• Magic is arcane (the knowledge is not easily accessible)
• Magic is Limited
Magic is Expensive
This is probably the most important part. Magic is inherently expensive. New spells are really expensive. Spell components are expensive. It takes time to learn spells, and time is money. Compare the relative cost of casting magic missile to firing bullets, and I think you'll find that bullets are much, much cheaper, in addition to having no real cap on the number you can fire in a day.
Magic is Unpredictable
Not all magic is completely unpredictable, the aforementioned Magic Missile is a pretty workmanlike spell, very reliable. However, there are vast areas of magic that can yield unpredictable results. Wild Magic goes without saying. But summoning magic can have unpredictable results, as can spells like chain lightning when cast. (Cast it in a hall of mirrors or underwater and see what happens.) Furthermore, from the perspective of the layman, the results of magic must be impossible to rely on. The layman has no idea how magic is worked, and is at the whims of the wizard as far as the results he sees.
Magic is Dangerous
You can summon creatures you don't intend to summon, get involved with liches, have magic brews explode, get attacked by other wizards, have a wild magic spell go wrong, or any of a thousand other horrible things go horribly wrong. Again, to the layman, this must appear bizarre and horrifying.
Magic is Arcane
The knowledge required to learn magic is expensive and hard to find or jealously guarded, which makes it both dangerous to acquire and extremely difficult to find. This makes it out of reach for Joe Public. You know what isn't out of reach for Joe Public? The basics of Newtonian Physics. Just sayin'. More importantly, this means that for an ordinary guy who needs help with his crops, he has to find and convince a magic wielding expert to come and help him out. This means he might need a wizard, priest, sorcerer, etcetera. What if the farmer can't convince the wizard to help? Or the priest is of a different religion and is unsympathetic to his plight? The exclusivity of magic puts the ordinary man at the mercy of an elite group of individuals who have no real motivation to help.
Magic is Limited
Gah. How often does a spell work only under certain circumstances, or only a certain number of times a day, or just fail outright? What people want is consistent, reliable, repeatable results. This is not what magic does best. This is the best reason why something like, say, catapults would exist in a D&D setting. A wizard can cast how many fireballs in a day? Well, this catapult can go all day long, continuously heaving rocks, cows, flaming pitch, flaming cows, irritating bards, and flaming bards at the enemy. Okay, how about this: printing. It takes forever to make a book by hand. A printing press, however, means that in the time it takes to write out a book by hand, you can make, like 50 more books. (I'm talking Gutenberg here, not the current gravure/offset litho printing employed today.) It also means that the results are consistent, the results are controllable, and there's no real limit to the number you can knock out. This isn't to mention things like running water, irrigation, architecture, construction, etcetera.
Magic is a really poor substitute for technology. New things and new ways of doing things will be invented, if only to circumvent having to deal with magic users. It's cheaper, safer, easier, and faster. I think that market competition would make this sort of thing happen in any fantasy setting. It also sounds like a fun wrinkle to a fantasy setting, if you ask me.