Once upon a time, people identified the god Neptune as the source of storms at sea. Today we call these storms hurricanes.... The only people who still call hurricanes acts of God are the people who write insurance forms.

Neil Degrasse Tyson
About This Quote

It is said that when the ancient Greeks believed in god or gods it was not only to help them with their daily affairs, but also to help with their understanding of the world. They believed that gods were able to do things they could not do by means of magic. The ancient Greeks thought that these deities could control nature and that one day they would be able to control it forever. It is said that the ancient Greeks also believed that the gods had special powers over water, storms, and even earthquakes.

It is because of this belief in magic and how it could be used to control nature that the word “magic” is used for both good and bad. The term “magic” was also used for certain kinds of arts or practices which were called “mysticism” or “mystical arts.” Nowadays, people believe that all kinds of magical acts belong to some form of superstition. They think that there are no magical acts anymore because they have been replaced by science.

The fact is that today, many people believe in magic or superstition while many others do not. Many scientific people have lost faith in magic while some have not.

Source: Death By Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries

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