I think that is the most polite way I've ever seen someone say "that is incredibly long!" But thank you, and I'm just thrilled to have some folks to talk to about this stuff.
I agree that JMG's emphasis on validity over authenticity has been incredibly useful, and is one of the things that broke me out of the "purity trap". I suspect that many folks who go in for authenticity/purity/legibility do so because they don't actually believe that magic is "really" doing anything.
Hmm, that's an interesting point on some of the value of coherence - it certainly can lend itself to the kind of imaginative and emotional resonance the "Frame of Reference" gives. On the other hand, I'm afraid I might not have clearly conveyed what I was trying to say about coherence, so I'd like to give it another shot. It's the one place above where I was maybe too brief!
I think that "coherence" is a virtue that is appealing to the rational intellect, and especially to the kind of rational thinking that wants to systematize and abstract everything. As you say, it is a virtue, but perhaps one that is over-valued in our society. I also think this goes back to the same point about validity above - if your way of worshipping/doing magic works, who cares if it's a bit messy and idiosyncratic? On the other hand, if you don't have any notion of efficacy, but you still want a justification for believing in/doing something, even if you escape the authenticity trap, you might still get caught by "but look how elegantly this all fits together!" It's the lure of figuring out epicycles to make the nice, neat circular orbits work out, rather than considering elliptical orbits.
Basically, I think that legibility and coherence are two particular flavors of a wider issue with our Faustian culture - the idea that the solution to every problem is to think through rational cause and effect, to apply abstractions, or to analyze to first principles. Obviously, there's a lot of strength to this approach, but it leaves us ill-suited to handle nuance, messiness, and particularity. Nothing new here, JMG and others have made similar observations, but I have found legibility and coherence useful tools for applying the insight.
no subject
I agree that JMG's emphasis on validity over authenticity has been incredibly useful, and is one of the things that broke me out of the "purity trap". I suspect that many folks who go in for authenticity/purity/legibility do so because they don't actually believe that magic is "really" doing anything.
Hmm, that's an interesting point on some of the value of coherence - it certainly can lend itself to the kind of imaginative and emotional resonance the "Frame of Reference" gives. On the other hand, I'm afraid I might not have clearly conveyed what I was trying to say about coherence, so I'd like to give it another shot. It's the one place above where I was maybe too brief!
I think that "coherence" is a virtue that is appealing to the rational intellect, and especially to the kind of rational thinking that wants to systematize and abstract everything. As you say, it is a virtue, but perhaps one that is over-valued in our society. I also think this goes back to the same point about validity above - if your way of worshipping/doing magic works, who cares if it's a bit messy and idiosyncratic? On the other hand, if you don't have any notion of efficacy, but you still want a justification for believing in/doing something, even if you escape the authenticity trap, you might still get caught by "but look how elegantly this all fits together!" It's the lure of figuring out epicycles to make the nice, neat circular orbits work out, rather than considering elliptical orbits.
Basically, I think that legibility and coherence are two particular flavors of a wider issue with our Faustian culture - the idea that the solution to every problem is to think through rational cause and effect, to apply abstractions, or to analyze to first principles. Obviously, there's a lot of strength to this approach, but it leaves us ill-suited to handle nuance, messiness, and particularity. Nothing new here, JMG and others have made similar observations, but I have found legibility and coherence useful tools for applying the insight.