Leo D.M.J. Aurini - September 29, 2016


Fantasy, the Occult, Genies, and Winning the Lottery


Episode Stats

Length

23 minutes

Words per Minute

124.782555

Word Count

2,941

Sentence Count

186

Misogynist Sentences

5

Hate Speech Sentences

8


Summary

This episode is an exploration of the philosophical and moral implications of magic in fantasy literature, of real-world occultism, of the myth of the genie in the bottle, and of Real-World Lotteries.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 This video is going to be an exploration of the philosophical and moral implications of magic in fantasy literature, of real-world occultism, of the myth of the genie in the bottle, and of real-world lotteries.
00:00:18.620 I'm sure all of you have heard about the controversies that frequently crop up around works like Harry Potter, for instance.
00:00:26.320 A lot of people view this as ridiculous. They presume they have a naturalist worldview, they presume that magic doesn't work, and they think it's rather silly that Christians get so bent out of shape about the whole thing.
00:00:40.920 Except there's very good theological reasons to worry about this, whether or not you believe in the occult.
00:00:48.740 See, as far as Christians are concerned, either magic works, and it works by circumventing the will of God, by allying oneself with demonic forces,
00:01:02.020 or it doesn't work, and distracts oneself from their day-to-day duties and pursuing the will of God, by going out and being a good person and working hard to earn what they want.
00:01:17.300 Because, quite frankly, if you're going to go to all the work of casting a magic ritual to get what you want, why don't you just pray for it?
00:01:28.180 This is the point that the Christians get at.
00:01:31.220 And, you see, not all fantasy works are built equally.
00:01:35.920 And, in fact, let me, I'm going to acknowledge the two writers that really got me thinking about all of this.
00:01:43.900 Tom Simon and Stephen Day-Gradinus.
00:01:47.280 They have a couple of excellent, in-depth pieces analyzing what makes a fantasy work valid and healthy, like the Chronicles of Narnia or Tolkien,
00:01:57.940 versus something that is very, very questionable, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
00:02:05.500 Links to both their works down below.
00:02:08.480 And the main point that they drive home is that they analyze certain hedges,
00:02:15.100 certain rules that are built into the fiction itself, never explicitly stated,
00:02:19.860 that prevent magic from being a valid pursuit of the protagonist character,
00:02:26.640 the character that we, the reader, put ourselves into.
00:02:31.360 The rules are as follows.
00:02:33.440 1. The pursuit of magic, as a safe and lawful occupation,
00:02:39.900 is restricted to wholly imaginary realms, unconnected with our own world.
00:02:44.900 2. The existence of magic is an openly known reality
00:02:48.400 of which the inhabitants of those worlds are as aware, as we are, of rocket science.
00:02:54.220 3. The pursuit of magic is confined to supporting characters,
00:02:58.480 not the protagonists with whom the reader is primarily to identify.
00:03:02.340 4. The author includes cautionary threads,
00:03:07.240 in which exposure to magical forces proves to be a corrupting influence on the protagonists.
00:03:13.100 5. Magical powers occur naturally only to characters who are not, in fact, human beings.
00:03:20.820 6. Magic is the safe and lawful occupation of characters who embody a certain wizard archetype,
00:03:27.340 white-haired old men with beards and robes and staffs, etc.
00:03:30.500 7. The author gives no narrative space to the process by which magicians acquire their powers.
00:03:38.400 Although study may be assumed as part of the backstory,
00:03:41.360 the wizard appears as a finished product with powers in place,
00:03:44.600 and the reader is not encouraged to dwell on the process of acquiring prowess in magic.
00:03:49.780 So those are the seven points.
00:03:53.920 And they certainly do offer an excellent divide between what is generally good literature,
00:04:00.940 good moral literature, and that which encourages recklessness.
00:04:06.920 Such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where they use Christian items to combat the demons and devils and the vampires,
00:04:17.280 and yet never give any questions of the natural order of things.
00:04:20.760 They never question, what does God want us to do with our lives?
00:04:24.860 So lesbian relationships, casual sex, that's all perfectly acceptable in the Buffy universe.
00:04:30.320 They don't so much deny God as simply ignore the idea that a god might exist.
00:04:41.020 However, these points, I think they're going to come back in this.
00:04:46.060 When you start asking what sort of person would break these rules,
00:04:49.040 what sort of character in a fantasy novel would seek after magic for its own sake,
00:04:54.820 you start to see where that goes.
00:04:58.440 But my own issue with books such as Harry Potter has never been primarily
00:05:04.280 that the magic is going to encourage people to explore the occult.
00:05:10.040 My biggest problem with Harry Potter and with D&D,
00:05:15.860 my problems with it are structural,
00:05:18.560 both in the sense of logical structure and narrative structure.
00:05:27.440 Now, in Harry Potter,
00:05:30.000 the magic used in that series
00:05:33.160 is very incoherent.
00:05:36.920 It doesn't make any sense.
00:05:39.660 As I understand,
00:05:41.100 I haven't read any of the books,
00:05:42.840 I've only seen the first movie and I wasn't impressed,
00:05:44.840 At one point,
00:05:47.260 Harry is given a time turner
00:05:49.320 because he's sleeping into class.
00:05:51.680 He's given a time machine to go back in time
00:05:53.480 because he keeps sleeping in.
00:05:55.940 And this isn't really ever used again.
00:05:59.920 Most of the magic,
00:06:00.880 it's there for special effects purposes,
00:06:04.080 but then it's forgotten.
00:06:06.080 They don't apply any reason,
00:06:08.320 any scientific method to this.
00:06:10.720 It's as if you have to throw out
00:06:13.460 your logical brain
00:06:15.200 before you even come in through the door.
00:06:20.380 The thing is,
00:06:21.260 if that magic works on Tuesday,
00:06:23.760 it ought to be working on Thursday as well.
00:06:27.900 If the magic is going to be at all used by protagonists.
00:06:31.800 Now, if you're going to argue that
00:06:33.140 magic is insanity,
00:06:37.060 that magic drives people insane,
00:06:38.960 and thus,
00:06:40.740 it's inconsistent day to day
00:06:42.620 what it does
00:06:43.500 because these people have lost all reason
00:06:45.480 through their belief in magic,
00:06:47.780 then that's a good way to go.
00:06:49.380 That could be a really interesting story,
00:06:50.860 but it doesn't serve a book
00:06:52.720 where the protagonist is a magician.
00:06:57.340 If you're going to have magic
00:06:59.080 used by good characters,
00:07:01.000 they need to be able to consistently
00:07:03.160 use that magic in all situations.
00:07:08.960 The second issue I have with magic,
00:07:11.440 so often in fantasy literature,
00:07:13.320 and perfectly embodied
00:07:15.820 in games like Dungeons & Dragons
00:07:19.100 or World of Warcraft or what have you,
00:07:23.720 in that these fantasy forms of magic
00:07:26.700 are ultimately indistinguishable from science.
00:07:32.160 The magic is something the magician studies.
00:07:38.780 They just learn to harness
00:07:40.560 the natural forces of the world around them,
00:07:43.700 but instead of using math equations,
00:07:45.720 they use archaic symbols,
00:07:48.480 arcane symbols.
00:07:50.100 But at the same time,
00:07:51.120 you know exactly what the magic does.
00:07:53.060 It gives you a plus one to your attack bonus.
00:07:55.240 It gives you plus three to armor.
00:07:57.200 It causes 3d6 of fire damage.
00:08:00.320 Et cetera.
00:08:00.740 This magic,
00:08:03.640 although it has the trappings
00:08:06.200 of what we call magic,
00:08:08.380 the Dungeons & Dragons magician,
00:08:11.460 he has the robe,
00:08:12.680 and he carries books around
00:08:14.160 and spells and potions.
00:08:15.700 It has all of these trappings
00:08:17.340 of magic.
00:08:20.660 But it has no spark.
00:08:24.740 The magic, ironically enough,
00:08:27.740 has no magic to it.
00:08:29.140 It's not mysterious.
00:08:31.940 It's utterly predictable.
00:08:35.600 And so they call it magic,
00:08:37.660 but you might as well
00:08:38.920 have a hacker in a cyberpunk story
00:08:41.340 doing the exact same things.
00:08:42.980 So what does real magic look like
00:08:51.000 in a narrative?
00:08:54.040 I would argue
00:08:55.140 that real magic,
00:08:57.940 the sort of magic that
00:08:59.300 you read a fantasy novel
00:09:01.780 to find,
00:09:02.840 it's about
00:09:06.160 it's about
00:09:06.420 personality.
00:09:08.300 It's about
00:09:08.660 imposing
00:09:09.500 will
00:09:10.700 and order
00:09:11.980 upon the universe.
00:09:16.640 And thus,
00:09:17.640 you see how we start
00:09:18.700 to get back
00:09:19.540 to the reason
00:09:20.960 that occultism
00:09:23.120 is forbidden
00:09:23.960 in the church.
00:09:26.040 because in a
00:09:29.060 good fantasy novel,
00:09:30.500 it's generally
00:09:30.960 somebody like
00:09:32.160 Aslan
00:09:32.940 or Gandalf the Grey,
00:09:35.020 who is
00:09:35.460 effectively
00:09:36.360 an earthbound
00:09:37.200 angel
00:09:37.820 in that narrative.
00:09:41.680 They know
00:09:42.700 what the
00:09:43.280 purpose of God is.
00:09:44.900 They know
00:09:45.140 what the destiny
00:09:45.840 of the world is,
00:09:47.560 and they employ
00:09:48.280 their magic
00:09:49.160 for these purposes.
00:09:51.220 Not for their own
00:09:52.420 self-aggrandizement,
00:09:53.860 or
00:09:56.940 you get
00:09:57.800 their dark
00:09:58.460 shadow.
00:10:00.640 And this is
00:10:01.180 the person
00:10:01.660 that uses
00:10:02.320 magic
00:10:02.840 as a will
00:10:04.480 to power.
00:10:06.940 This is
00:10:07.800 the dark
00:10:08.900 sorcerer.
00:10:10.520 This is
00:10:11.200 the necromancer.
00:10:12.720 This is
00:10:13.720 the Nietzschean
00:10:15.300 Ubermensch
00:10:16.220 who crushes,
00:10:18.040 who just tramples
00:10:19.080 on all of those
00:10:20.640 who are beneath him
00:10:21.420 because he has
00:10:22.280 this hidden power.
00:10:23.860 And so
00:10:26.980 something like
00:10:27.740 Harry Potter,
00:10:28.620 it completely
00:10:29.680 ignores
00:10:30.240 the logical
00:10:31.240 side effects
00:10:32.040 of this magic.
00:10:34.380 You know,
00:10:34.820 Eliezer Yudkowsky
00:10:35.740 wrote a whole book
00:10:36.600 about that,
00:10:37.240 Harry Potter
00:10:37.920 and the Methods
00:10:38.440 of Rationality,
00:10:39.640 where he just
00:10:40.080 explored how
00:10:41.060 crazy this magic
00:10:42.120 was and how
00:10:42.600 they never did
00:10:43.100 anything logical.
00:10:44.960 You know,
00:10:45.240 just with all the
00:10:45.900 fact that they
00:10:46.640 used gold coins
00:10:47.640 in the wizard realm,
00:10:49.140 you know,
00:10:49.380 you could make
00:10:50.160 so much money
00:10:50.920 back on
00:10:52.300 the muggle realm.
00:10:54.740 Why doesn't
00:10:55.420 anybody do that?
00:10:58.360 And then you have
00:10:59.200 D&D,
00:11:00.400 where there is
00:11:01.300 no narrative,
00:11:02.020 there is no spark
00:11:02.940 to it,
00:11:04.120 and so really
00:11:04.740 it might as well
00:11:05.540 be science
00:11:06.400 since the magic,
00:11:07.480 you know,
00:11:07.700 what's the difference
00:11:08.440 between a fighter
00:11:09.120 and a mage?
00:11:10.200 You know,
00:11:10.380 they both have
00:11:10.960 bonuses in battle
00:11:12.240 depending on how
00:11:13.220 experienced they are.
00:11:14.780 it's a very good
00:11:17.320 game of chess,
00:11:18.920 okay?
00:11:19.200 Like World of Warcraft,
00:11:20.240 it's a very good
00:11:20.960 rule system
00:11:21.980 for planning out
00:11:23.360 strategies,
00:11:24.560 but it doesn't
00:11:26.400 have that
00:11:27.140 narrative spark,
00:11:29.060 that meaning,
00:11:30.320 that intention,
00:11:31.160 that will
00:11:31.780 that magic
00:11:33.820 really ought
00:11:35.220 to have.
00:11:36.220 And so with this,
00:11:39.700 understanding that
00:11:40.680 it needs to,
00:11:42.060 one,
00:11:42.780 if you're going to
00:11:43.180 have magic at all,
00:11:44.540 it needs to be
00:11:45.540 coherent and
00:11:46.340 rule-bound,
00:11:47.140 but at the same
00:11:47.680 time based upon
00:11:48.600 imposing your will
00:11:49.880 upon the world.
00:11:52.780 And if you're going
00:11:53.680 to impose your will,
00:11:55.220 is that
00:11:56.240 God's will?
00:11:57.920 Is it a
00:11:58.860 righteous
00:11:59.320 will?
00:12:00.240 And what does
00:12:02.820 that question
00:12:03.220 even mean?
00:12:05.160 See this?
00:12:06.360 This is the part
00:12:07.140 of the video
00:12:07.720 where we're going
00:12:08.280 to move on
00:12:08.920 to genies.
00:12:12.220 And we all
00:12:13.320 know the myth
00:12:14.240 of the genie.
00:12:14.860 Rub the lamp
00:12:15.500 and you get
00:12:15.820 three wishes.
00:12:17.780 So what's
00:12:18.760 wrong
00:12:19.520 with this?
00:12:22.380 Well,
00:12:22.840 first of all,
00:12:23.280 if you found
00:12:24.020 a genie lamp,
00:12:25.200 what would you
00:12:26.460 wish for?
00:12:28.760 What could you
00:12:29.460 wish for
00:12:29.980 safely?
00:12:31.980 That would be
00:12:32.760 good.
00:12:35.080 You know,
00:12:35.680 we could sit
00:12:36.120 around and talk
00:12:37.020 about this.
00:12:37.500 Like, maybe you
00:12:38.140 would wish that
00:12:39.200 everybody that has
00:12:40.680 cancer on the
00:12:41.520 planet Earth
00:12:41.920 is cured.
00:12:44.940 That's probably
00:12:45.720 a fairly safe
00:12:46.640 and good wish.
00:12:50.200 And there might
00:12:50.960 be a few others
00:12:51.980 like that,
00:12:52.880 but we have
00:12:53.940 all heard that
00:12:54.500 we are all
00:12:55.240 familiar with
00:12:56.080 the way that
00:12:57.740 wishes trap
00:12:58.780 you.
00:12:59.020 you know,
00:13:00.320 you wish for
00:13:00.820 world peace
00:13:01.580 and Hillary
00:13:03.600 Clinton suddenly
00:13:04.280 gets better
00:13:04.800 and takes over
00:13:05.320 the world.
00:13:06.840 Yeah, great,
00:13:07.240 we have world
00:13:07.700 peace under
00:13:08.260 a tyrant.
00:13:09.720 The wish
00:13:10.460 tends to
00:13:11.900 backfire.
00:13:14.900 So let's
00:13:15.640 forget about
00:13:16.100 these global
00:13:17.260 spanning
00:13:18.260 wishes.
00:13:19.200 wishes.
00:13:21.080 What would
00:13:21.720 people wish
00:13:22.300 for in
00:13:23.940 their own
00:13:24.380 life?
00:13:26.420 You might
00:13:27.180 wish for
00:13:27.840 wealth,
00:13:28.840 for longevity,
00:13:30.400 for love.
00:13:31.720 but are
00:13:34.500 these really
00:13:35.240 wise wishes
00:13:36.460 to make?
00:13:39.560 Let's take
00:13:40.240 the first one,
00:13:41.080 wealth.
00:13:42.520 Do you want
00:13:43.300 to be wealthy?
00:13:44.700 Do you really
00:13:45.780 want to be
00:13:46.800 wealthy?
00:13:48.700 Because,
00:13:50.260 let's be
00:13:51.080 perfectly frank,
00:13:52.520 what's stopping
00:13:53.720 you right now
00:13:54.700 from becoming
00:13:56.480 wealthy?
00:13:59.400 It's not that
00:14:00.400 hard to make
00:14:01.180 a million dollars.
00:14:03.260 It'll take
00:14:03.740 several years
00:14:04.480 of focus
00:14:05.300 and effort
00:14:05.900 to do it.
00:14:07.520 You'll have
00:14:08.180 to earn
00:14:09.040 it.
00:14:10.740 But you
00:14:11.300 can do
00:14:11.560 that.
00:14:12.400 You can
00:14:12.800 become
00:14:13.060 wealthy.
00:14:15.560 What about
00:14:16.240 longevity?
00:14:19.120 Once again,
00:14:19.980 this is
00:14:20.520 something that's
00:14:21.160 within your
00:14:21.680 control.
00:14:22.780 If you want
00:14:23.320 to be
00:14:23.680 healthy,
00:14:24.660 you need
00:14:25.080 to take
00:14:25.420 care of
00:14:25.720 your body.
00:14:26.600 You need
00:14:26.900 to be
00:14:27.300 cautious
00:14:27.880 that you
00:14:28.240 don't injure
00:14:28.880 yourself.
00:14:29.660 You need
00:14:29.940 to work
00:14:30.200 out every
00:14:30.620 day.
00:14:30.840 You need
00:14:31.220 to discipline
00:14:31.780 yourself.
00:14:32.340 But you
00:14:32.680 can have
00:14:33.420 longevity.
00:14:36.580 And what
00:14:37.860 about
00:14:38.060 love?
00:14:40.500 Wishing
00:14:41.140 for love.
00:14:44.040 Is that
00:14:44.860 how you
00:14:45.160 get love?
00:14:47.780 The
00:14:48.420 huri
00:14:49.140 that the
00:14:50.020 musloids
00:14:52.080 expect to
00:14:53.740 receive in
00:14:55.020 the afterlife
00:14:55.700 after they
00:14:56.180 murder a
00:14:56.620 bunch of
00:14:56.900 innocent
00:14:57.100 people.
00:14:59.000 These
00:14:59.640 huri,
00:15:00.320 these
00:15:00.520 soulless
00:15:01.160 sexual
00:15:02.240 slaves,
00:15:04.340 is that
00:15:06.000 love?
00:15:06.580 because once
00:15:10.180 again,
00:15:11.020 if you
00:15:12.460 want a
00:15:13.340 sexual
00:15:13.720 slave,
00:15:15.000 there are
00:15:16.940 dozens
00:15:18.160 upon
00:15:18.700 dozens
00:15:19.420 of men
00:15:20.940 and women
00:15:21.280 out there
00:15:21.880 who want
00:15:23.300 to enslave
00:15:24.300 themselves
00:15:25.000 sexually
00:15:25.780 to somebody.
00:15:29.260 If you
00:15:30.240 actually want
00:15:30.820 love,
00:15:31.280 though,
00:15:32.100 that can't
00:15:33.320 be taken.
00:15:34.800 That can't
00:15:35.660 be forced.
00:15:36.580 it can
00:15:37.860 only be
00:15:38.960 given
00:15:39.400 voluntarily.
00:15:43.800 And that's
00:15:44.680 the trap
00:15:45.120 of the
00:15:45.420 genie.
00:15:47.140 Most of
00:15:47.760 the things
00:15:48.100 that people
00:15:48.480 would wish
00:15:48.900 for,
00:15:49.760 most of
00:15:50.180 the selfish
00:15:51.020 things,
00:15:52.060 they could
00:15:52.940 actually go
00:15:53.400 and get
00:15:53.700 these things
00:15:54.220 on their
00:15:54.600 own.
00:15:55.320 And then
00:15:55.620 they would
00:15:56.000 actually have
00:15:56.740 earned
00:15:57.100 them.
00:15:57.740 They would
00:15:57.980 have a
00:15:58.660 right to
00:15:59.020 them.
00:16:01.820 But see,
00:16:02.220 wealth,
00:16:02.600 wishing for
00:16:03.080 wealth,
00:16:03.900 is no
00:16:05.320 different than
00:16:05.740 stealing.
00:16:08.160 Wishing for
00:16:08.860 longevity?
00:16:11.000 Well,
00:16:11.520 people do
00:16:11.820 this every
00:16:12.180 day.
00:16:13.320 Instead of
00:16:13.660 taking
00:16:13.860 accountability
00:16:14.320 for themselves,
00:16:15.720 instead of
00:16:16.380 monitoring their
00:16:17.340 health and
00:16:17.760 eating well,
00:16:19.080 they expect to
00:16:19.800 go to the
00:16:20.160 doctor and
00:16:21.400 get a magic
00:16:22.160 pill that
00:16:22.980 just fixes
00:16:23.500 everything.
00:16:25.960 And again,
00:16:26.780 love.
00:16:27.180 If you want
00:16:27.780 somebody to
00:16:28.180 love you,
00:16:28.560 you need to
00:16:28.980 be a person
00:16:29.580 worth
00:16:31.100 loving.
00:16:34.460 And the
00:16:35.120 modern form
00:16:35.680 of the
00:16:35.980 genie,
00:16:36.380 the real
00:16:36.860 world
00:16:37.380 form of
00:16:39.260 the
00:16:39.500 genie,
00:16:40.580 is the
00:16:42.160 lottery.
00:16:44.720 The vast
00:16:45.460 majority of
00:16:46.000 people that
00:16:46.480 win the
00:16:47.360 lotto
00:16:47.780 are dead
00:16:50.220 broke after
00:16:51.420 a couple of
00:16:52.020 years.
00:16:53.360 And in fact,
00:16:53.800 not just
00:16:54.140 dead broke,
00:16:55.460 but miserable.
00:16:56.960 they didn't
00:16:59.440 appreciate what
00:17:00.060 they had
00:17:00.520 before they
00:17:01.080 won the
00:17:01.380 lottery.
00:17:02.780 And post-lottery,
00:17:04.540 they've lost
00:17:05.720 most of it.
00:17:07.600 They no longer
00:17:08.400 have their
00:17:08.740 job.
00:17:09.580 They no longer
00:17:10.080 have their
00:17:10.680 family and
00:17:11.620 their friends.
00:17:12.860 They no longer
00:17:13.720 had what they
00:17:14.420 used to have.
00:17:16.040 Because this
00:17:16.800 wealth flooded
00:17:17.880 into their
00:17:18.360 life,
00:17:19.500 unearned.
00:17:21.800 And something
00:17:22.600 that is unearned
00:17:23.720 can never be
00:17:24.420 truly appreciated.
00:17:26.960 And everybody
00:17:30.500 pretends that
00:17:31.180 they want to
00:17:31.860 be, that
00:17:32.940 they would be
00:17:33.640 the one
00:17:33.960 person wise
00:17:34.680 enough to
00:17:35.160 handle a
00:17:36.400 lottery.
00:17:39.180 But you know,
00:17:39.900 a lottery is
00:17:40.420 not an
00:17:40.700 inheritance.
00:17:41.540 An inheritance
00:17:42.100 coming from
00:17:42.720 your ancestor,
00:17:44.360 your ancestors,
00:17:45.120 that comes with
00:17:45.840 obligations and
00:17:47.260 duties to
00:17:47.900 maintain it.
00:17:48.860 If you inherit
00:17:49.500 a business,
00:17:50.780 a business that
00:17:51.400 generates money
00:17:52.560 for you,
00:17:53.660 you understand
00:17:54.480 that you need
00:17:54.920 to take care
00:17:55.420 of it.
00:17:55.720 Whereas people
00:17:57.880 that get
00:17:58.200 trust funds,
00:17:59.660 they tend to
00:18:01.820 self-destruct
00:18:02.540 very quickly,
00:18:03.500 becoming SJWs
00:18:05.200 and political
00:18:05.640 activists and
00:18:06.900 trying to
00:18:07.580 destroy the
00:18:08.180 very society
00:18:08.740 that gave
00:18:09.240 them that
00:18:09.640 wealth in
00:18:10.000 the first
00:18:10.300 place.
00:18:11.680 And this is
00:18:12.480 no different
00:18:12.900 than the
00:18:13.480 lottery winner.
00:18:14.120 and how
00:18:17.520 this lottery,
00:18:18.460 this windfall
00:18:19.100 of cash
00:18:19.600 that they
00:18:19.880 did not
00:18:20.320 earn,
00:18:23.100 destroys their
00:18:24.000 ability to
00:18:24.680 enjoy life.
00:18:28.760 A lottery
00:18:29.680 will give you
00:18:30.440 the exact same
00:18:31.360 ability to
00:18:32.020 find love
00:18:33.240 as a
00:18:34.600 genie.
00:18:37.860 You'll find
00:18:38.820 a slave
00:18:39.700 who is
00:18:40.980 using you
00:18:42.040 for their
00:18:43.140 own purposes.
00:18:43.780 And so
00:18:46.980 the lesson
00:18:47.340 to take
00:18:47.760 away from
00:18:48.280 all of
00:18:48.980 this,
00:18:49.160 I think
00:18:49.520 it's
00:18:49.680 threefold.
00:18:51.460 When we
00:18:51.940 talk about
00:18:52.300 the magic
00:18:53.540 and fantasy
00:18:54.020 literature,
00:18:55.340 real-world
00:18:55.980 occultism,
00:18:57.380 the imaginary
00:18:58.260 genie and
00:18:58.880 the very
00:18:59.240 real-world
00:18:59.900 genie of
00:19:00.960 the state
00:19:01.300 lottery,
00:19:02.400 the first
00:19:05.040 is to
00:19:06.720 really appreciate
00:19:07.400 what you
00:19:07.880 have already.
00:19:08.660 not just
00:19:11.060 what you
00:19:11.420 have,
00:19:12.400 but the
00:19:12.760 opportunities
00:19:13.440 that present
00:19:15.040 themselves
00:19:15.440 to you.
00:19:18.460 So many
00:19:19.220 people
00:19:19.620 limit
00:19:20.840 themselves.
00:19:22.860 They say,
00:19:23.720 well,
00:19:23.940 if only I
00:19:24.700 were born
00:19:25.380 in a different
00:19:27.100 place, I could
00:19:27.820 do this.
00:19:28.780 If only I
00:19:29.820 were a
00:19:30.120 millionaire, I
00:19:30.860 could do
00:19:31.260 that.
00:19:31.680 well, then
00:19:34.540 why don't
00:19:34.780 you become
00:19:35.160 a millionaire?
00:19:37.220 It's not
00:19:37.940 that hard.
00:19:38.860 I mean, you
00:19:39.160 have to
00:19:39.460 really want
00:19:40.020 it.
00:19:42.760 Okay, it's
00:19:43.780 but it's a
00:19:45.280 lot easier to
00:19:45.800 become a
00:19:46.160 millionaire than
00:19:46.700 a famous
00:19:47.060 football player.
00:19:48.340 But, you
00:19:48.920 know, anybody,
00:19:49.720 if they want
00:19:50.200 it, just
00:19:51.100 about anybody
00:19:51.560 can become a
00:19:52.780 college football
00:19:53.380 player if they
00:19:55.700 want it.
00:19:56.780 You have to
00:19:57.620 work for it.
00:19:58.160 You have to
00:19:58.580 earn it.
00:19:59.060 So, so
00:20:01.100 appreciate what
00:20:01.780 you have
00:20:02.320 already and
00:20:03.040 the opportunities.
00:20:04.920 Appreciate, not
00:20:06.000 as in feel
00:20:06.820 thankful, but
00:20:07.780 appreciate as
00:20:08.940 in notice the
00:20:10.380 fact that you
00:20:11.540 have so much
00:20:12.240 opportunity in
00:20:13.300 this life.
00:20:15.300 This leads into
00:20:16.500 the second.
00:20:18.120 The second
00:20:18.880 point, once you
00:20:19.380 appreciate all the
00:20:20.420 opportunities, all
00:20:21.380 the different
00:20:21.780 things that you
00:20:23.240 could do, all
00:20:24.540 the power and
00:20:25.540 control you
00:20:26.080 truly do have
00:20:27.200 in this world,
00:20:29.060 you realize that
00:20:31.860 the only way to
00:20:32.660 have something
00:20:33.540 is to earn
00:20:35.620 it.
00:20:38.580 You folks know
00:20:39.460 that I love
00:20:39.900 making automotive
00:20:40.580 rent, uh,
00:20:41.180 metaphors.
00:20:42.860 Take car
00:20:43.640 ownership as an
00:20:44.360 example of this.
00:20:47.280 My 1994
00:20:48.520 sports car.
00:20:51.480 I absolutely
00:20:52.360 love that girl.
00:20:54.200 She's taken me
00:20:54.980 all over the
00:20:55.740 country, wherever
00:20:56.300 I needed to be.
00:20:57.280 I've done some
00:20:58.120 good work with
00:20:58.860 her, I've taken
00:21:00.060 care of her, I'm
00:21:01.140 the one who
00:21:01.620 maintains her, I
00:21:02.900 know her inside
00:21:04.040 and out, and I
00:21:05.340 absolutely love
00:21:06.980 that car.
00:21:09.860 And then I've
00:21:10.640 seen, I've seen
00:21:11.700 men that own car
00:21:13.820 dealerships, and
00:21:15.680 they're constantly
00:21:16.240 driving a brand
00:21:17.080 new whatever.
00:21:18.820 It's not quite
00:21:19.500 brand new, it
00:21:20.060 might be two
00:21:20.460 years old, but
00:21:21.040 they're driving
00:21:21.680 whatever luxury
00:21:22.640 vehicle they feel
00:21:24.000 like because they
00:21:24.660 have it on their
00:21:25.200 lot.
00:21:25.540 you know, or
00:21:28.160 think of the
00:21:28.620 oil sheiks, you
00:21:30.360 know, who
00:21:30.740 regularly crash
00:21:32.060 their Lamborghinis
00:21:33.000 for fun because
00:21:34.280 they have so much
00:21:34.840 money they don't
00:21:35.320 know what to do
00:21:35.800 with it.
00:21:36.800 I get more
00:21:37.700 pleasure out of
00:21:38.260 my car because
00:21:38.980 I've earned it
00:21:39.820 than somebody who
00:21:42.300 has not earned
00:21:43.900 their car.
00:21:47.160 To truly own
00:21:48.220 something, you
00:21:49.880 need to earn
00:21:51.280 it.
00:21:52.180 Sweat, blood,
00:21:53.680 and tears.
00:21:55.540 And finally, the
00:21:57.600 third point, that
00:22:00.740 either magic is a
00:22:03.580 very foolish waste
00:22:05.180 of your time.
00:22:07.160 You know, even if
00:22:08.460 it works, it's
00:22:09.480 still foolish because
00:22:11.480 you're trying to
00:22:12.160 cheat.
00:22:13.760 You're going to,
00:22:14.740 even if it works,
00:22:15.780 even if you get
00:22:16.640 what you wish for,
00:22:18.540 it'll be ashes in
00:22:20.800 your mouth.
00:22:21.240 you'll take no
00:22:23.180 pleasure from it
00:22:23.900 because you didn't
00:22:24.920 earn it.
00:22:27.260 The only type of
00:22:28.260 magic that would
00:22:29.080 work, that would
00:22:30.940 actually give you
00:22:31.840 what you needed,
00:22:33.520 not what you think
00:22:34.860 you want, but what
00:22:36.160 will actually make
00:22:36.860 you feel fulfilled,
00:22:37.920 would be the magic
00:22:38.780 that does not
00:22:41.600 subvert God's
00:22:43.640 will.
00:22:43.860 There's no
00:22:46.320 easy way
00:22:47.880 to get ahead.
00:22:51.080 You can shoot
00:22:52.020 up fast
00:22:52.700 like a weed,
00:22:54.980 but you'll be
00:22:56.240 gone at the end
00:22:56.900 of summer.
00:22:59.080 Far better
00:23:00.060 to be the
00:23:01.760 slow-growing
00:23:03.060 oak
00:23:03.540 which weathers
00:23:04.900 many storms
00:23:05.900 and rises
00:23:07.940 above the
00:23:09.140 canopy.
00:23:09.500 Thanks for
00:23:13.260 listening,
00:23:13.720 folks.
00:23:15.180 And, uh,
00:23:15.720 you know what?
00:23:18.000 Maybe some of you
00:23:18.900 will come up with
00:23:19.420 a really good
00:23:19.940 magic system for
00:23:20.720 a novel,
00:23:21.280 a fantasy novel,
00:23:22.660 and this might
00:23:23.460 just influence
00:23:24.700 you a bit.
00:23:25.780 If so,
00:23:27.060 that's an honor.
00:23:29.620 Take care of
00:23:30.280 yourselves.
00:23:31.540 Deus Volt.
00:23:32.940 Urini.
00:23:33.840 Out.