There is No Magic

Outside of quantum physics, there is no magic.

Conjuring Tricks

Some people claim to use magical powers to perform conjuring tricks such as bending spoons or reading minds. Other people, performing the same feats, claim to use techniques such as sleight of hand or cold reading. These techniques are well documented and widely practised, and are entirely consistent with the known laws of nature. The people who employ these techniques perform conjuring tricks, not miracles.

In the absence of strong, independent evidence for the existence of supernatural powers, it’s reasonable to assume that no–one who bends spoons or reads minds does so by using supernatural powers. Everyone, including those who claim otherwise, uses standard conjuring techniques.

Social Institutions

The same principle applies to the workings of social institutions. Everything of any importance that happens within social institutions, happens as a result of deliberate human action. There is no magic involved in the establishment or workings of human social institutions.

Some people, the equivalents of the charlatan entertainers who claim to use supernatural powers to perform conjuring tricks, claim that particular human social arrangements are as close to perfection as it is possible to be, and that any change must be for the worse.

This claim cannot be true. Because human behaviour is almost infinitely variable, it follows that human social arrangements are almost infinitely variable. Because so few such arrangements have yet been tried, the total of current and past human social arrangements adds up to a tiny fraction of all possible social arrangements.

In the world of social institutions, nothing is inevitable or immutable. Everything can be changed for the worse, but, more importantly, everything can be changed for the better.