Technology, was Re: What are muggles, anyway?

[joym999 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 20257

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., rcraigharman at h... wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Milz" <absinthe at m...> wrote:
> > Could be. Maybe Dumbledore is privy to Magical/Muggle genetic
> > studies that imply Muggles are really Squibs.
> 
> Somehow, a culture that doesn't use "eckeltricity" doesn't strike
> me as prime ground for having done genetic research.  On the other
> hand, genealogical research seems to be the kind of thing that
> would fit in well -- heir of Slytherin and all that stuff....
> 

Wizards don't use electricity for a very good reason -- they don't 
need it, in fact they don't need our technology at all (except maybe 
for sherbet lemons).  Modern muggle technology, according to wizards, 
is a (poor) substitute for magic.  And modern muggle technology is 
largely based on the availability of cheap, efficient energy sources, 
especially electricity.

But wizards can create their own energy.  This, IMO, is one of the 
most significant differences between muggles and wizards.  Why mine 
coal, build power plants and power lines and thousands of devices, 
create vast amounts of pollution, and endanger the future of the 
planet thru global warming, if you can light hundreds of candles with 
a flick of the wrist?

Wizards have their own sort of technologies.  They are constantly 
improving and refining magical objects.  The history of the 
broomstick, as explained in QTTA, makes this clear. And several 
people have noticed the similarities between the kind of logic that 
goes into creating a magical item such as the Marauder's Map and the 
kind of logic that goes into writing a computer program.  They are 
simply different types of technologies, and one is not necessarily 
superior to the other.

I have studied the history and development of technology and many of 
the devices we use have as much to do with cultural preferences and 
historical accidents as anything else.  Different technologies 
develop for different reasons at different times.  Many cultures 
independently invented the wheel, for example, and many of them 
rejected it because their geographic conditions made it unsuitable 
for use in a transportation device.

I think wizards do plenty of research.  That's why they need 
publications like the "Journal of Transfiguration" (I think that's 
what it's called.)  They just research different stuff than muggles 
do because they have different needs, just like the Mayans stopped 
researching the wheel because they lived in a mountainous region at 
the same time Europeans were developing wheeled vehicles.

So, if wizards need to know about genetics, they are likely to be   
researching it.  They might not need it though, since genetic 
research is primarily done within the field of medicine, and wizard 
medical science is clearly a lot different that ours.

--Joywitch