Leo D.M.J. Aurini - Fantasy, the Occult, Genies, and Winning the Lottery

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. 0.86

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, 0.97

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. 0.92

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, 0.90

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. 1.00

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. 0.58

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 0.92

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 1.00

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 1.00

00:14:56.180 murder a 0.99

00:14:56.620 bunch of 0.96

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 1.00

00:15:02.240 slaves, 1.00

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 1.00

00:15:13.720 slave, 0.99

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 0.89

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 0.99

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 0.96

00:18:38.820 a slave

00:18:39.700 who is 0.98

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 0.89

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 0.86

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 0.98

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 0.94

00:22:03.580 very foolish waste 1.00

00:22:05.180 of your time. 1.00

00:22:07.160 You know, even if

00:22:08.460 it works, it's 0.97

00:22:09.480 still foolish because 0.98

00:22:11.480 you're trying to 1.00

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 0.91

00:22:20.800 your mouth.

00:22:21.240 you'll take no 0.97

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 0.79

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. 0.96

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.

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

Fantasy, the Occult, Genies, and Winning the Lottery

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript