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fox_in_socks · 10-21-2005, 05:23 AM

Professor Fox stepped in quietly so as not to disturb th students and wrote quickly on one of the main blackboards.

Clarification of Arithmancy Concepts:

Arithmancy vs. Charm Theory
- We represent spells in this class using numbers to examine advanced and foreign concepts. We do not create magical 'number spells'.
- There is no '7' spell. '7' is a property that certain spells may or may not contain. A spell which has an element represented by a '7' may very well have an element represented by a '6' or a '4'.
- Hence, it does not make much sense to discuss 'does a 0 beat a 4?' or 'which works better, a 9 or a 6?.' There are no single spells, potions, or anything else which are represented solely by a single one digit numeral.
- It is easier to discuss properties in terms of numerals because it is easier to represent a spell as 90978374671 than to attempt to explain how and why it works and is affected by other spells in terms of language. Furthermore, many spells do not use Latin, English, French, Chinese, Russian, or Spanish. Think, 'How does a British wizard understand a spell cast in 1,500 year old Quechan? And how do they set about bypassing it?'
- Again, any given single numeral is not more potent, or less potent than any other numeral. The idea is how their properties combine in certain orders to produce a magical effect.
Zeroeth Law
- All magic left unattended tends to decay in potency.
- There is no magical universal "power of zero" spell which causes all magic to decay. This only means a spell left to its own devices for a time period will slowly decay in potency, i.e. depending on the spell it's potency will decay quickly, slowly, or infinitesimally, but it will decay unless it is seen to properly.
- The characteristic time of decay varies with the spell but may be as long as thousands of years.
- I repeat, there is no magical "nil" spell which causes other spells to decay.
Time Independence vs. Irreversibility
- Something which is independent of time will have a longer lifetime as a spell left unattended than a spell which is dependent on time.
- A spell which is dependent on time or has a dependency on time will as a result change over time, independent of decay of its potency (which again is not noticeable in a human lifetime).
- An irreversable spell simply means a spell which cannot be easily reversed. Said spells may or may not have a lifetime of their own. The irreversability of a spell is separate from its dependency on time.
Why do we bother learning this junk?
- Once one knows all the properties of all the basic numerals, one can discern how to represent a curse that say makes a person drool.
- Once that is discerned, then by knowing the number a wizard can know what numbers add to get that number.
- Once that is known, one can discern what spells are represented by those numbers.
- Once that is discerned, one can set about bypassing the original spell.
- But without knowing the basics of 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, the whole attempt is fruitless.

10-21-2005, 05:23 AM	#24 (permalink)
fox_in_socks sox master Puffskein Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 1,506 Hogwarts RPG Name: Saroja	Professor Fox stepped in quietly so as not to disturb th students and wrote quickly on one of the main blackboards. Clarification of Arithmancy Concepts: Arithmancy vs. Charm Theory We represent spells in this class using numbers to examine advanced and foreign concepts. We do not create magical 'number spells'. There is no '7' spell. '7' is a property that certain spells may or may not contain. A spell which has an element represented by a '7' may very well have an element represented by a '6' or a '4'. Hence, it does not make much sense to discuss 'does a 0 beat a 4?' or 'which works better, a 9 or a 6?.' There are no single spells, potions, or anything else which are represented solely by a single one digit numeral. It is easier to discuss properties in terms of numerals because it is easier to represent a spell as 90978374671 than to attempt to explain how and why it works and is affected by other spells in terms of language. Furthermore, many spells do not use Latin, English, French, Chinese, Russian, or Spanish. Think, 'How does a British wizard understand a spell cast in 1,500 year old Quechan? And how do they set about bypassing it?' Again, any given single numeral is not more potent, or less potent than any other numeral. The idea is how their properties combine in certain orders to produce a magical effect. Zeroeth Law All magic left unattended tends to decay in potency. There is no magical universal "power of zero" spell which causes all magic to decay. This only means a spell left to its own devices for a time period will slowly decay in potency, i.e. depending on the spell it's potency will decay quickly, slowly, or infinitesimally, but it will decay unless it is seen to properly. The characteristic time of decay varies with the spell but may be as long as thousands of years. I repeat, there is no magical "nil" spell which causes other spells to decay. Time Independence vs. Irreversibility Something which is independent of time will have a longer lifetime as a spell left unattended than a spell which is dependent on time. A spell which is dependent on time or has a dependency on time will as a result change over time, independent of decay of its potency (which again is not noticeable in a human lifetime). An irreversable spell simply means a spell which cannot be easily reversed. Said spells may or may not have a lifetime of their own. The irreversability of a spell is separate from its dependency on time. Why do we bother learning this junk? Once one knows all the properties of all the basic numerals, one can discern how to represent a curse that say makes a person drool. Once that is discerned, then by knowing the number a wizard can know what numbers add to get that number. Once that is known, one can discern what spells are represented by those numbers. Once that is discerned, one can set about bypassing the original spell. But without knowing the basics of 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, the whole attempt is fruitless. __________________ You fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia. Last edited by fox_in_socks; 10-21-2005 at 05:32 AM.