There seems to be a hierarchy in the computer world, with the elite programmers as the superstars and the help desk and documentation folks as the untouchables. The principle seems to be that those who can make the machines do their will are those most worthy of our applause.
In politics, charisma gets awed admiration—the ability of a Bill Clinton to charm others into doing what he wants done. Parliamentarians also get respect, as people whose knowledge of the rules allows them to control that which the rules govern.
These are forms of magic; variations on the theme that to know the right words is to have power over others. I believe a longing for that power is why teenagers are so interested in magic—it’s a fantasy of control treasured by those who control so little.
Before I went to graduate school, I rarely wanted to control anything outside of my immediate surroundings (when I was a teenager, I never understood the appeal of magic). I was happy to be left with my books and my dreams and my pen and paper.
As I progressed through my professional training and began to think of what I would do with it…well, there’s that word: do. What would I do? If I were to want to do anything, then I would have to know how to do it.
And that is the thought that led me to The Magician, which in the tarot deck symbolizes good thoughts transformed into good deeds through the power of knowledge, insight, skill, and disciplined application (spells and enchantments unnecessary).
If I were to want to do a task, then being able to control the machine that does that task is essential. If I were to want to do something more complicated than a task, then being able to appeal to people so that they would do that work with me is essential. Neither skill comes naturally to me—I’d still rather curl up with my books and my thoughts—but if the price of living naturally is to spend the rest of my life being as useless to the world as I was in my 20s, then I will put “living naturally” back on the shelf and continue my shopping elsewhere.
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