Post originally by Dan Hemmens at 2004-09-08 16:07:51
Converted from Phorums BB System

"Ah, the anti-intellectualism retort."

Ah, the pseudo-intellectual retort.

There used to be a fabulous thread on this site about how geeks use the regurgitation of facts as a form of counting coup. A lot of them use nitpicking about details the same way.

"Question: If I'm not allowed to care about those sorts of details, why are you allowed to care about the difference between "no reflection" and "blurry reflection"? "

Because I am concerned with style, mood and story, while you are trying to apply an engineering solution to a thematic element.

There are some elements of a mythos - things like "vampires do not reflect in mirrors" and "the land and the king are one" that serve a thematic rather than mechanical purpose. The fact that vampires do not reflect in mirrors has nothig to do with optics, or physics, or biology or the properties of light, it's just a facet of their nature.

It all comes down to the non-reductionist nature of magic. Too many people assume that if a spell can be broken by True Love's Kiss, then there must be some specific quality in that person's saliva which breaks the enchantment. It isn't, it's just an archetype.