Chapter 202

"Its core is actually what I just said, observation, summarization, correction, observation again, summarization again, and correction again. It is a method of cognizing the world, and no matter what this world is like, as long as it has laws and can be understood, we can use this method to cognize it."

"Idealism does not mean that this world cannot be understood; it just places spirit before matter. But the methodology of science does not presuppose any worldview. In fact, in the teacher's understanding, science does not care whether this world is materialistic or idealistic."

"Is magic idealistic?"

"Perhaps it is. But does it have laws to follow?"

"Obviously it does."

"We can even prove this through logic."

"We can make an assumption."

"Assume that magic is completely idealistic, with no laws to follow, and our spirit completely overrides the material world. This world will be arbitrarily changed because of our magic."

"If the assumption holds, then magic is an unlimited wish machine."

"But this would create a contradiction. There are so many people who can use magic. Whose wish should this wish machine realize?"

"What if the wishes conflict?"

"What rules are relied upon to judge whose conflict wins?"

"If there is no such rule, the wishes will conflict, leading to some people's wishes not being realized. Magic is not an unlimited wish machine and cannot completely override the material world, so it is not completely spiritual."

"And if there is this rule, then its existence proves that magic is not completely lawless."

"A completely idealistic, lawless magical world can only exist if there is only one unique spirit in this world, and we and everything we know are the products of that great spirit."

"But this also leads to an inference that we are all matter. We, Hermione, Tom, I Murphy, these individuals, and all things in the universe, are extensions of that great spirit, and we are all matter born from it. Therefore, we must follow the rules it has set for matter."

"Look, no matter what, this world has understandable rules. These rules may be incomplete, but they must exist."

"If you think magic is idealistic, then its idealism is only reflected at the very origin. In the 99.99% area it manifests, it still has its own operating rules."

"And through the methodology of science, we can study the rules in this 99.99% area and make them our own."

After Murphy finished speaking, he looked at the two children, "Do you understand?"

"Seems to understand a little, but there are still many things I don't understand..." Hermione said.

Murphy smiled, "Understanding a little is enough. I will teach you slowly. When you get used to using this methodology to observe the world, you will find its simplicity and clarity."

"You will find that judging whether a thing is the truth is very simple. It doesn't need so many mysterious concepts. Observing things, summarizing laws, correcting laws, our cognition of the world is such a simple process."

"Alright, the topic has gone too far, let's go back to the wand."

"Just now you said you think the wand is like an antenna," Murphy looked at Hermione, "Then what do you think it should play for a wizard?"

"Amplify... magic power?" Hermione guessed.

"Very good, can you be more specific?"

"The wand can enhance or amplify the magic power released by the wizard?"

"Very good!" Murphy snapped his fingers, "Then how should we verify this? Can you design an experiment?"

This idea is very simple, even if Tom is not very familiar with antennas, he can think of it, "Let the wizard hold the wand or not hold the wand, and test the size of the magic power."

"Great!" Murphy looked at Tom, "Miss Granger's association ability and basic common sense are relatively solid, but your reasoning ability is quite good."

"And reasoning ability, or deductive ability, is another very important method in research methods, and it can even be said to be the most important."

Saying that, he pointed to the stand, "This thing is the experiment you mentioned."

"You have already mastered the essence of the experiment, which is to control the key variables. And in the conjecture we want to verify, the most critical variable is whether to hold the wand or not."

"We do two sets of experiments. One group holds the wand and recites the spell, releasing the spell at the target. One group does not hold the wand, releases the spell at the target with the same action and the same spell."

"Then we observe the results of the two sets of experiments."

"Since the only difference between the two sets of experiments is whether to hold the wand or not, we can verify whether our conjecture is correct."

"These magic power testers are used to accurately detect magic power."

"Now do you understand how to research a thing? Is it very simple?"

"Observation... conjecture... verification..." Tom only felt that his mind was suddenly enlightened.

It turns out that everything in the world can be so simple.

This seems to be a magic weapon to verify all truths in the world!

When he can use this method to look at things, those chaotic rhetoric and contradictory things don't seem so difficult to understand anymore. In this world, it is black and white, yes or no. You can constantly correct your theory to approach the truth, but there is only one standard for judging whether it is the truth, and that is whether it can be verified by experiments.

A joy of enlightenment filled Tom's heart. Only at this moment did he truly believe the sentence in the notebook.

I met the person who changed my destiny.

He looked at Murphy, "I understand, teacher."

A teacher is one who imparts knowledge, teaches professional skills, and resolves doubts.

Just this truth is enough for him to benefit for a lifetime.

"Very good, if you understand, come over," Murphy said, "Hermione, you go and hold that wand, and then release a few spells you are best at at the target. After this round, Tom, you go and take the wand away, and Hermione tries to release those spells again with the same posture and spell."

"Tom, you come here. I'll teach you how to use this Muggle camera. Later, I'll say start, Hermione will prepare to release the spell, and Tom, you have to press this button the moment she finishes reciting the spell."

"Do you understand?"

"Understood, Professor." The two young wizards were already convinced by Murphy at this moment, feeling that they seemed to be participating in a very remarkable project, very motivated.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Lumos!"

"Alohomora!"

"Scourgify!"

"Reparo!"

Ten minutes later, Murphy nodded, looking at the girl with fine sweat on her forehead, and handed over a handkerchief, "Incredible, Miss Granger, you can master so many spells as a first-year student. And you have never been exposed to magic before. Remarkable."

Then he looked at Tom, who was silent beside him, "Tom, want to try? We do research, high-quality data is naturally the more the better."

Tom was encouraged, "Okay."

"Diffindo!"

"Incarcerous!"

"Incendio!"

"Expelliarmus!"

Hiss... Is this kid competing with Hermione? He came up with full firepower.

(End of chapter)