Magic

The confluence of two recent cultural events sparked thoughts about the nature of our experience in this reality: the iPhone and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."

Having spent a few days commuting on the train, I've come to appreciate the iPhone as the closest thing to a magical device I have seen--possibly that humanity has made. With its near-ubiquitous Internet connection, it is the first device that truly makes it possible to have the knowledge of humanity in your pocket at all times. The fluidity of its surface--how would you explain to someone who lived 10,000 years ago how it all works? 1,000 years ago?

Then there is the latest installment in the Harry Potter franchise to hit the big screen. While slow at first, the climactic wizard's battle near the end is spectacular. The special effects on the screen convey the power of magic to audiences whom have never truly seen magic. 

(On a side note, I find it intriguing that most modern visual representations of magic inolve elaborate visual light shows, not unlike electricity dancing at the command of the magister. Does Edison's remarkable discovery still astonish us so?)

The common thread among these two events is that of magic. Why is it that our reality seems so limiting not to admit the possiblity of something like magic as we see it on the screen? The iPhone reflects some of the best technological achievements of humanity, yet it remains far off from the vision of magic in J.K. Rowling's world.