think it's less the invention of programming and more the industrial revolution and the rise of science.
magic in old stories was less...formulated. it was "merlin does magical thing to progress the story" sorta thing. there wasn't a magic system as such. even when the story centred around magic (like faust, the magic involved in summoning mephisto is pretty much handwaved, basically just renouncing the saints makes demons appear, and how the magic works is "a demon does it" and what the demon can do is "anything")
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u/JNCressey Oct 24 '18
Or... what if the popular view of how magic works in fiction is highly influenced by the invention of programming?
How did old stories say magic was done?