Waiting for the Magic

Magical Thinking, the belief that one’s ideas, thoughts, actions, words, or use of symbols can influence the course of events in the material world. Magical thinking presumes a causal link between one’s inner, personal experience and the external physical world. (Source: https://www.britannica.com/science/magical-thinking)

Most everyone has engaged in some kind of magical thinking as described above. Ever have a lucky object of some sort? Ever wonder if thinking something negative caused something negative (but completely unrelated) to happen? Ever watch Star Wars or any number of superhero movies because you wish to relate to the protagonist in the story? We are easily seduced by the idea that we have, or we the virtuous can acquire, more power to influence events. It takes up even more of our imagination when our world becomes increasingly complicated and feels beyond our control. Superhero blockbusters ingeniously tap into this dynamic by showing powerless but virtuous humans discover unique and magical abilities that give them power to defeat evil.

Magical thinking presumes a causal link between one’s inner, personal experience and the external physical world. I regret to inform you that it’s an extremely egocentric view; predicated on being at the center of all things and possessing power over those things. We all like to think if we can acquire such power ourselves, we would use it for good/justice in the face of evil. The same egocentrism that fuels magical thinking guarantees that self-perception. It doesn’t make that self-perception objectively true – as history proves time and again. We idealize power as being only acquired by the ‘best’ people when we align ourselves with powerful people too – but we should also know from history that’s simply irrational. Perhaps this is why some people in power today are getting especially uncomfortable with lessons from our history.

Magical thinking is considered a normal stage of development in children. At best, magical thinking gives us a sense of control in an increasingly chaotic world we might otherwise fear too much to engage. It might also stop us from certain kinds of dangerous thoughts or experiences; believing we will cause something else bad to happen.

At worst however, magical thinking can fuel an insatiable and lifelong appetite for power. If you persist beyond childhood in the belief that the best and most deserving have the ability to influence a world of events, you will pursue power relentlessly as a source of personal validation. You will assume by the same warped logic that you are properly entitled to use (what others might consider abuse) such power once you get it. This may not seem terrible if your sphere of influence is on Tik Tok. It is absolutely terrible if your sphere of influence is literally the globe. We shouldn’t let our own bias pre-determine these two exercises of influence are fundamentally different for the individual. Should we assume someone who rises to the level of president is less egotistical or prone to magical thinking than a social media influencer? Doesn’t our lived experience tell us quite the opposite is true? What differentiates these two people may be more about opportunity than anything else. What drives them in their pursuits might be identical.

So here we sit, faced with consequences flowing from a stunted worldview and subsequently warped logic of some extremely powerful man-children. (They all happen to be men right now, sorry). Their campaign message has been so alluring in our crazy world that a bunch of us went along for the ride, hoping to gain more control by proxy I guess. These ‘leaders’ have risen to power believing in their own magic and therefore must use it to believe it themselves. The only acceptable world for them is one that affirms their possession of magical abilities; borne of their own superiority. If that isn’t a setup for failure I don’t know what is.

How many casualties will we continue to amass waiting for the doomed to fail? Will we ever seek to fully understand the source of their inevitable failure? Or will we keep getting sucked into their egotism and magical-thinking when they proudly and unabashedly claim ‘they alone can fix this?’ Will the systemic inequality that basks in their incompetent leadership eventually make all these people ‘too big to fail?’ What will be the fate of everyone else? I can say one thing, I am quite confident it won’t be magical.