Based on a question asked to me by a subscriber, in this video I tried to give explanations as to how medieval people actually believed magic worked.
A distinction I have found fascinating to no end is; Supernatural as suspension of reality. Vs. Supernatural as opaque/hidden laws of reality.
Certainly a theme I like to play with, given it's a good way of making a firm distinction between Miracles and Magick. or other such forces.
There is a whole rant I could go on about scientific models and how older models are still perfectly good at predicting outcomes despite being objectively wrong about what they are describing. A good quote from Peter Watts' Blindsight I think sums up my thoughts on this
Quote"Not talking about case studies. Brains are survival engines, not truth detectors. If self-deception promotes fitness, the brain lies. Stops noticing— irrelevant things. Truth never matters. Only fitness. By now you don't experience the world as it exists at all. You experience a simulation built from assumptions. Shortcuts. Lies. Whole species is agnosiac by default."