Space Occultism "versus" Transhumanism
Two quotes to start us off -
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
-Arthur C. Clarke
Any sufficiently rigorously defined magic is indistinguishable from technology.
-Larry Niven
Admittedly my thinking about Points of Light in Space invite the name "Numenera in Space". In fact Monte Cooke Games' setting even has two supplements that expand from the Ninth World into the Void and into other dimensions.
However Numenera's initial premise seems to be that "magic" is advanced technologies, basically "science fantasy" by way of post-Apocalyptic ignorance. It does have some fantastical aspects, however, with extradimensional invader types. Yet there is nothing like the Moral Power which powers my Star Knights (and arguably Void Knights), nor do I recall instances where the magical thinking (for example Like Calls to Like, a Part touches the Whole) that informs spells, regents, and rituals.
Essentially it seems to me that if the Ninth World managed to get back to the level of technological prowess of the previous 8 civz that preceded them none of what is experienced in the setting would be called magic. What I think makes Space Occultism interesting is stuff that seems like magic may be a means to utilize psionics - in fact some practitioners of magic in this world refer to magical practice as "tech". So if someone was willing to produce a flubbed techno-babble explanation for psionics - maybe basing it on quantum biology or some such - one could take way the supernatural sheen of occultism...but then we wouldn't have Space Occultism and things, for me at least, get way more boring.
On the flip side if the PCs, or anyone else, starts learning spells I think we enter into a situation that is better covered by a Spelljammer type setting or maybe a Shadowrun in Space type thing. What I'm personally interested in is the possibility of magic, where a supernatural explanation is at least as reasonable as a non-supernatural one. You encounter something that could just be a weaponized species coded to delight in Hannibal-style antics - is this thing evil or is it EVIL? Sure a ritual invoking some ancient god may just be a way a particular kind of alien brain unlocks it's ability to manipulate some as-yet unknown field effects in the physical world...but why does it take that particular ritual? Are extradimensional entities masquerading as gods/demons actually supernatural beings, and at what point does the distinction fail to make sense?
And perhaps most relevant to those living post-Cataclysm: Why can't AI/robots produce Psi effects, a fact that make them extremely insecure about their own reality as genuine conscious entities? Something that might frustrate them even more is if some of the Ancient/Precusor tech does seem capable of producing Psi effects. Additionally these very powers combined with the advantages of being a sentient machine have made them apparently impossible to capture. (If anyone has done so they aren't talking.)
However, even the presence of Psionics wouldn't, in my opinion, completely obviate the doubt transhuman technologies have on the authority and power of religions. In our world there are no firm confirmations of alien life influencing religious belief. However post-Cataclysm it would make sense that some aliens may have tried to set themselves up as gods via their advanced tech and/or psionics and this information has plausibly gotten out even in a Points of Light setting. Even knowledge of technological prowess at transhuman levels, especially at the high end of the Kardashev Scale, in combination with knowing there are other sentient races out there would make some people skeptical of "miracles" performed even by their own ancestors.
Additionally, given that the Vren sought to impose a galactic caste system based around their own closeness to "God" (The Akashic Overmind), I can see many people very opposed to using psionics as an argument for top-down religious authority. This isn't to say religion is as absent as it seems to be in, say, the human populace of Star Trek. The mystery of Psi likely contributes to some religious belief, but I suspect that it promotes of mysticism over orthodoxy.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
-Arthur C. Clarke
Any sufficiently rigorously defined magic is indistinguishable from technology.
-Larry Niven
Admittedly my thinking about Points of Light in Space invite the name "Numenera in Space". In fact Monte Cooke Games' setting even has two supplements that expand from the Ninth World into the Void and into other dimensions.
However Numenera's initial premise seems to be that "magic" is advanced technologies, basically "science fantasy" by way of post-Apocalyptic ignorance. It does have some fantastical aspects, however, with extradimensional invader types. Yet there is nothing like the Moral Power which powers my Star Knights (and arguably Void Knights), nor do I recall instances where the magical thinking (for example Like Calls to Like, a Part touches the Whole) that informs spells, regents, and rituals.
Essentially it seems to me that if the Ninth World managed to get back to the level of technological prowess of the previous 8 civz that preceded them none of what is experienced in the setting would be called magic. What I think makes Space Occultism interesting is stuff that seems like magic may be a means to utilize psionics - in fact some practitioners of magic in this world refer to magical practice as "tech". So if someone was willing to produce a flubbed techno-babble explanation for psionics - maybe basing it on quantum biology or some such - one could take way the supernatural sheen of occultism...but then we wouldn't have Space Occultism and things, for me at least, get way more boring.
On the flip side if the PCs, or anyone else, starts learning spells I think we enter into a situation that is better covered by a Spelljammer type setting or maybe a Shadowrun in Space type thing. What I'm personally interested in is the possibility of magic, where a supernatural explanation is at least as reasonable as a non-supernatural one. You encounter something that could just be a weaponized species coded to delight in Hannibal-style antics - is this thing evil or is it EVIL? Sure a ritual invoking some ancient god may just be a way a particular kind of alien brain unlocks it's ability to manipulate some as-yet unknown field effects in the physical world...but why does it take that particular ritual? Are extradimensional entities masquerading as gods/demons actually supernatural beings, and at what point does the distinction fail to make sense?
And perhaps most relevant to those living post-Cataclysm: Why can't AI/robots produce Psi effects, a fact that make them extremely insecure about their own reality as genuine conscious entities? Something that might frustrate them even more is if some of the Ancient/Precusor tech does seem capable of producing Psi effects. Additionally these very powers combined with the advantages of being a sentient machine have made them apparently impossible to capture. (If anyone has done so they aren't talking.)
However, even the presence of Psionics wouldn't, in my opinion, completely obviate the doubt transhuman technologies have on the authority and power of religions. In our world there are no firm confirmations of alien life influencing religious belief. However post-Cataclysm it would make sense that some aliens may have tried to set themselves up as gods via their advanced tech and/or psionics and this information has plausibly gotten out even in a Points of Light setting. Even knowledge of technological prowess at transhuman levels, especially at the high end of the Kardashev Scale, in combination with knowing there are other sentient races out there would make some people skeptical of "miracles" performed even by their own ancestors.
Additionally, given that the Vren sought to impose a galactic caste system based around their own closeness to "God" (The Akashic Overmind), I can see many people very opposed to using psionics as an argument for top-down religious authority. This isn't to say religion is as absent as it seems to be in, say, the human populace of Star Trek. The mystery of Psi likely contributes to some religious belief, but I suspect that it promotes of mysticism over orthodoxy.
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