"Its core is what I just described: observe, summarize, revise, then observe again, summarize again, and revise again. It is a method of understanding the world. No matter what kind of world this is, as long as it has rules and can be understood, we can use this method to understand it."
"Idealism does not mean the world cannot be understood. It merely places spirit before matter. But scientific methodology presupposes no worldview. In fact, as I understand it, science does not care whether this world is materialist or idealist."
"Is magic idealist?"
"Perhaps. But does it have rules that can be followed?"
"Obviously, it does."
"We can even prove it through logic."
"We can make an assumption."
"Suppose magic is completely idealist, utterly without rules. Suppose our minds stand entirely above the material world, and this world can be altered at will by our magic."
"If that assumption holds, then magic is an unrestricted wishing machine."
"But that creates a contradiction. There are so many people who can use magic—whose wishes is this wishing machine supposed to grant?"
"Every wizard's wish must be fulfilled, so what happens if those wishes conflict?"
"What rule determines which side wins in a conflict?"
"If there is no such rule, conflicting wishes will make it impossible for some people's wishes to be fulfilled. Magic would not be an unrestricted wishing machine, could not stand entirely above the material world, and would not be purely spiritual."
"And if such a rule exists, then its existence proves that magic is not completely without rules."
"A completely idealist magical world with no rules can exist in only one case: there is only one spirit in this world, and we, along with everything we know, are products of that great spirit."
"But that leads to another conclusion: