The ability to shoot off fireballs from our palms may seem a little unrealistic, but the more I think about it… is it really? Think of all those sci-fi shows where superheroes come into contact with some kind of chemical that alters their DNA, or are experimented on and all of a sudden they have some mysterious new powers. There’s a vast universe out there. Who’s to say that a multiverse doesn’t actually exist where some highly advanced civilization hasn’t evolved into something well beyond where we currently are on earth? It may seem like something you only read about in books or see in movies, and while most of those plots are exaggerated for a good read, realistically, the idea is somewhat plausible.
Humans are constantly evolving and adapting, and while “magic spells” may not ever become a thing, I don’t think it’s too far fetched to believe that one day human DNA might evolve far enough to give us some kind of superpowers. It may have taken millions of years, but humans have learned to walk on two legs, our brain sizes have increased, and we now have a dependency on vision rather than smell. The future of evolution might not even involve the physical body, but maybe advancements in technology. Will there be a way to embed our minds into robots so that we never die? Or maybe we can simply “upload them to the cloud” and bam, the world’s smartest minds will be preserved forever. Until the server crashes and you lose all your data, anyway.
In doing some research for this article, I came across an interesting theory that we might in fact revert backwards. Being so dependent on technology, humans have become seriously lazy. Why would we need doctors if robots can perform a surgery for us? Do we ever need to do physical labor if machines can plant and farm for us?
CRISPR was something that came up frequently in my quick Google search on the subject. Fancy science aside, if you aren’t familiar with it, it’s basically a way to alter genes to your liking. If someone could potentially boost your immune system and alter your genes to cure a disease, why couldn’t they figure out a way to adapt them to give you a superpower?
Back to magic and what happens if it actually came into existence.
The big problem here, like with a lot of weapons and drugs, is what would happen if it got into the wrong hands? If someone could actually turn invisible, they could waltz right into a bank and rob them without anyone knowing. Magiceutical companies, as I call them in my novel, might have more control than they probably should have. New spells could be stolen and used to harm people rather than help. Not to mention the financial aspect. If some kind of magic could cure cancer, you can bet no company will be giving it away for cheap. The idea of having magic seems cool, but the reality of it is it only complicates our lives even more. Magic may cure diseases, but they could end up causing them too.
I chose to write the Black Sheep series as if magic was like a new technology. It’s unpredictable, sometimes dangerous, and its properties are still being explored to better understand how it works. To complicate things, magic seems to react differently to our main character Adrian. While we can attribute some of our skills to dedication and learning, the reality is that some of us are just a lot better at certain things than others.
In my free short story, Unpredictable Magic, we meet Abby, a lead magic technician at Arcane Enterprises. Magic had been discovered about fifteen years prior, and there’s still a lot they don’t know about it. For example, while they have magic objects that do things like provide a waterproof barrier around you (no more wet pant legs!) or a paper towel that can absorb and neutralize small chemical spills, they’ve only started testing it on humans because they aren’t certain how people might react. Would a sleep spell put someone in a coma? Much like how medical drugs work, what would happen if you injected someone with a “healing magic”? Too much may lead to an overdose. But how much is too much? Does it depend on the person? Some people are allergic to certain drugs. Could people be allergic to magic too (that would probably be me)?
I’m not a scientist by any means. This is just my rant I wanted to share with my readers. If this subject seems interesting to you, I suggest you check out Unpredictable Magic. It’s a free short story, and a prequel to my main novel How to Hunt a Menacing Magical Shadow. I’ve even conveniently added the form below so you can enter your email and start reading it right now!
