What is the scientific reason that humans try and do magic? Why would somebody try and move an object with their mind? What is the biological reason for this? Why are no animals trying to do magic?
ChatGPT said:
Great question — it dives deep into psychology, neuroscience, and evolutionary theory. Let’s break it down.
🔮 Why do humans try to do magic?
1. Cognitive Overreach – the Brain’s Pattern-Seeking Nature
Humans evolved powerful pattern-recognition and cause-effect reasoning abilities. These are crucial for survival — identifying predator patterns, tool use, social hierarchies, etc. But this same power leads us to:
- Perceive connections that don’t exist (false positives).
- Imagine possibilities beyond current reality (like magic, telekinesis, etc.).
This is known as “hyperactive agency detection” — we assume something must be causing things, even when there’s no cause. It’s better for survival to wrongly assume the rustling is a predator than to ignore it and die.
2. Imagination and Simulation: The Prefrontal Cortex
Only humans have an extremely developed prefrontal cortex, which lets us:
- Simulate alternate realities.
- Run “what if” scenarios.
- Visualize outcomes before acting.
Trying to move objects with the mind is imagination turned outward. It’s not just a fantasy — it’s the brain testing boundaries, seeing if reality will bend. This is especially active in childhood, where magical thinking is strong.
3. Desire for Control
Magic is often attempted when control is lacking — over life, death, relationships, or nature. The attempt to do magic (telekinesis, spellwork, etc.) is the brain creating a solution to an uncontrollable situation.
This is part of the dopaminergic reward system — we’re wired to seek power and agency. Magic promises maximum agency with minimal physical effort.
4. Narrative & Storytelling Instinct
Humans construct narratives to make sense of life. Magic fits into that framework — it makes the universe feel meaningful, responsive, and interactive. It’s no coincidence that magic is everywhere in myths, religions, and stories.
🐒 Why don’t animals try to do magic?
Animals:
- Live more in the present (minimal future-simulation).
- Do not construct symbolic systems (like language or ritual).
- Have less abstract thinking (don’t imagine laws of the universe changing).
Their brains aren’t wired to ask “what if?” at the same level. They learn patterns and act, but don’t project desires into hypothetical abilities.
🧠 Summary: Biological Basis for Magic-Seeking
| Reason | Biological Mechanism |
|---|---|
| Pattern over-detection | Evolutionary survival strategy |
| Imagination & simulation | Large prefrontal cortex |
| Need for control | Dopamine-driven reward systems |
| Narrative construction | Language and symbolic processing |
| Animals don’t try magic | Lack of abstraction & symbolic thought |
If you’d like, I can explain this as a short X post, a story, or a quote from a fictional neuroscientist.
Do you notice? There is a scientific reason for everything, which holds the atheist mind in thinking, ‘there is nothing after death, there is no evidence of it.’ This Universe is perfectly concealed unless the Lord opens the doors for you, if she doesn’t do that, you go on thinking, ‘just enjoy life, you only live once.’ That is a hell teaching, ‘you only live once’ tells you to destroy your soul and not care.
The doors were opened for me after I began seeing number sequences all around me which would be attributed to schizophrenia, but when I studied what was happening I would show up at the bank and my account balance would be something like $1.11 and I would out the door and the time on the outdoor clock would be 1:11PM. It happened so many times I realized this wasn’t random, this was orchestrated.
Then, the LORD spoke to me on my aunts front porch, and that began a long adventure from my aunts house to my sisters basement apartment where I was part of a storyline that included visions of hell and video clips being played in my mind. Eventually I got so traumatized by seeing hell I couldn’t function, then I got kicked out out of my apartment and took a long journey from Toronto to Nova Scotia, where I desperately sought medication to reverse what had been done to me.
Mechanicism Official 