SPOILERS - Avengers

[CharlesPhipps]

Wouldn't Loki be banished to Hell if he died? Asgard is gone but that was only one realm.

I think this continuity is ignoring the more magical aspects of the Asgardians. They're not "Gods" they are just sufficiently advanced aliens.

Magic and science are one in the same to them.

[G-Man]

To be fair, magic and science are one and the same to us, too. How could you explain cell phones to anyone from, say, 1700 or before without it sounding like magic?

[TGLS]

How could you explain cell phones to anyone from 1700 without it sounding like magic?

This relies somewhat on a rather learned 18th century person, but here's a basic summary. It comes a bit closer to explaining a walkie-talkie than a cell phone, but once the basics are down, you can start explaining the abstractions (i.e. once the 18th century person understands a walkie-talkie, you can start explaining how phone calls work, and then how long distance calls work, and so on).

- RECALL: Isaac Newton proved that light is composed of multiple colors along a spectrum.
- In addition to these colors, there are other invisible rays.
- The characteristics (color, energy, etc.) of each of these rays depends on the wavelength of the ray.
- One such kind of these invisible rays are called "radio waves".
- Radio waves interact with metal, and can be generated by applying electricity to metal, and electricity is generated by applying radio waves to electricity.
- Electricity, in addition to attracting and repelling matter, also travels through matter.
- Electricity can be converted into sound and vice versa.
- So a cell phone, converts sound into electricity, and converts the electricity into radio waves, then the radio waves back into electricity, and then the electricity into sound.

[CharlesPhipps]

"Sound is a wave and this device carries the wave to other boxes. WITH MAGIC."

[cilantro]

How could you explain cell phones to anyone from 1700 without it sounding like magic?

This relies somewhat on a rather learned 18th century person, but here's a basic summary. It comes a bit closer to explaining a walkie-talkie than a cell phone, but once the basics are down, you can start explaining the abstractions (i.e. once the 18th century person understands a walkie-talkie, you can start explaining how phone calls work, and then how long distance calls work, and so on).

- RECALL: Isaac Newton proved that light is composed of multiple colors along a spectrum.
- In addition to these colors, there are other invisible rays.
- The characteristics (color, energy, etc.) of each of these rays depends on the wavelength of the ray.
- One such kind of these invisible rays are called "radio waves".
- Radio waves interact with metal, and can be generated by applying electricity to metal, and electricity is generated by applying radio waves to electricity.
- Electricity, in addition to attracting and repelling matter, also travels through matter.
- Electricity can be converted into sound and vice versa.
- So a cell phone, converts sound into electricity, and converts the electricity into radio waves, then the radio waves back into electricity, and then the electricity into sound.

This seems like a better way of describing something other than just saying, "it's magic because your puny brain can't understand the basic concepts at all. My people are 10Xs smarter and more advanced than you and it's not worth my time to try to explain some basic concepts to you. Instead, I shall degrade your intelligence and say that you will think it's magic."

[CharlesPhipps]

To take a moment to stop the conversation and reinorientate.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, magic is objectively real and has physical effects as well as relates to other dimensions as well as cosmic beings. In other words, there's no difference between science and magic in terms of "uses physics of the universe to do X"

Or in simpler terms, "Really, what's the difference between Q and God?"

[Eishtmo]

Or in simpler terms, "Really, what's the difference between Q and God?"

Fashion sense?

[cilantro]

Or in simpler terms, "Really, what's the difference between Q and God?"

Fashion sense?

What does God need with a starship?

[GloatingSwine]

Or in simpler terms, "Really, what's the difference between Q and God?"

Fashion sense?

I do not think Q should be casting stones about the fashion sense of other allegedly omnipotent beings...

[G-Man]

I am NOT using "magic" as shorthand for "don't explain it." I am saying that the explanations for things like cell phones would sound magical when you think about the reference points you would need to make them understandable. Cell phones use the power of lightning (electricity) to send invisible light to a tower that sends the invisible light to a machine flying above the air (the satellite) which sends the invisible light to another tower, etc.

If magic works in ways that can be analyzed, it is essentially just another set of physical laws - Arthur C. Clarke said that any science sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic. I believe it was the comic Girl Genius that pointed out that any magic sufficiently explained is indistinguishable from science.

From a perspective of fictional works, magic that works in ways that can be predicted is just another form of made-up science (e.g. warp drive).