magic-radio-idea

An exploration of Radio Physics as a device to access old magic. 

     Radio physics would be an interesting way to approach a connection to another realm or reality in which magical 
power exists, and can be harnessed. This is not an entirely new idea, but I feel it has been undershot when used. 
There’s a few stories which contain uses of radio to contact the dead, but I think it can go deeper than that. 
	
     If we approach magic as a sort of energy that “leaks” into our reality through various vectors, we have to assume 
there is a source just outside of said reality. This source would tie into some of parallel universe type theory, 
where “outside of reality” really just means at a level of quantum mechanics that is not wholly understood. The 
“gods” or “beings” that would exist at this level of reality would not be treated in the traditional sense. Even 
making them ethereal or giving them form might be the wrong approach, but that remains to be seen. The important 
part is that this is where the magic comes from. 
	
     Using real human history as a sort of template, we can approach magic like this; magic exists at a very deep 
quantum level. At the beginning of human existence and early history, our brains still had a bicamerally defined 
onsciousness (think Julian Jaynes). The word “bicameral” basically means “two chambered,” so playing off that, 
the mind was split in two; one part being very much grounded here, at the physical level of reality, and the other 
having connections to the quantum level that were unable to be understood. This is evidenced by early story telling. 
Characters were constantly given guidance by apparitions, or divine hand enabled them to perform actions not 
normally possible for the average human. This was attributed to gods and spiritualism, but what was really going 
on was that they had the ability to harness the magic leaking into our reality at the quantum level, and their 
brains interpreted the best they could with the information they knew at the time. (Jaynes proposes that the second
mental chamber was the seat of a subconscious with stronger influence, almost the way we might coloquially think of
multiple personality disorder. For the sake of the fictional idea in our world, this second chamber should be 
treated as connected to something else, rather than being another aspect of the whole individual.)

     As history went on, rational thought began to shape the physical attributes of the brain, which resulted in the 
bicameral aspect shrinking. As we studied our world, and more knowledge became “knowable,” the portion of the 
brain that had the tools to harness quantum magic shrank, as did our ability to tap into that level of reality. 
Shamanism, reliance on faith healing, etc, all went the way of the dodo as our intelligence took over and we 
were able to bend and shape our physical world more and more without the use of a supernatural ability. 
	
     This idea is also not new. However, I propose given the nature of radio physics, with the discovery and 
subsequent use of radio waves in the mid-1800’s, a new vector to access this quantum magic was reborn...however, 
completely unwittingly. We regarded it as a communication tool amongst ourselves, and nothing more, not 
realizing that electricity itself was the key to this new vector. The pieces were simply never put together 
the right way, and exploited save for by a select few humans who stumbled into the realization that radio 
offered more than just terrestrial communication. 
	
     As radio technology advanced, so did our understanding of it’s mechanics, and it became apparent to some that 
the brain had parts that behaved in very similar ways to a transceiver. The few that caught on began to discover 
they could augment this through meditation and will power, and suddenly harness these quantum abilities to use 
at our level of reality. However, the power remains subtle, and is largely regarded as the work of fakers and 
charlatans, often sparking modern day witch hunts and accusations of insanity and quackery. Radio technology 
was no longer needed by this minority, after much training and practice, but to display their abilities 
publically typically meant being ostracized, and in some societies, put to death. So, not willing to give up 
their newfound secret, groups formed in the shadows, slowly finding ways to inject manipulation here and there 
and control the world around them through largely undetectable means. 

And thus was born the secret magical societies in the story. 

     Actual radios could also litter the world (and I know enough about them to fill anyone in and create a lot of 
variety, as radio is a hobby of mine) and be used by players. There usefulness could range from creating ambience, to
being used in some quests, to giving hints that magic is perhaps not a flight of fantasy. I won't be too pushy on this
idea since I'm biased, as an amateur radio operator, but I had to get it out there.