Hi Worstgen,
I want to make a point about this series, "One Piece." It may be improper to apply modern sensibilities to it because it may be based on esotericism and beyond this it gets into mysticism (mysticism is like a step further than esotericism in the sense that esoterics are not magical but mystics are magical). Mysticism is a cousin to Fantasy.
The main difference between this story and real life situations is a concept known as Life Force Energy which has been dismissed by modern science. However, this is an Eastern Comic Book that is popular worldwide. To be clear, Eastern Esotericism/Mysticism is difficult to understand for Western readers for many reasons. It includes magical elements that aren't fully understood and involve something described as "secret knowledge" that only a few people even among Eastern cultures will fully understand.
It is also damaging for some readers because they, themselves, are hoping Willpower will let them do whatever they want to because their spirit is stronger or whatever. Hyping up whoever has stronger Haki and what not.
Let's be real, Luffy is a whiny character and his Haki is based on getting upset. He's unstable as a person and he'd likely get himself into trouble if people weren't watching out for him and he wasn't constantly in the sea where nobody gives af what he does.
Anyway... This post is just to make a point about how the story isn't compatible with most readers sense of reality. It's Chakra and karma and all that stuff and the West has abandoned that life force energy nonsense ages ago.
To be clear, the East believes in "subtle energy". It is claimed that scientific instruments can never find 'subtle energy" because it's f***Ing subtle. But, basically, the west just believes it's not even there.
For example, the idea of the soul creating energy! Yeah, that doesn't exist in the West. As far as the West is concerned, there really is no proof a soul even exists. It's imaginary. However, in the East, it is largely believed souls do exist as they do generate energy.
However, it was also said in Doctor Stone, that if someone could generate energy from souls then they would be digging up your mom's grave and use her soul to power their house (or something to that effect). It's such an unreal idea that it's just not gonna happen.
Anyway... The magic in the story is, in fact, magic. They say things like Devil Fruits aren't magic. But, they are. They're based on pseudo-science from the East that presumes ancient technology can really do this kind of stuff. It plays on the idea that if technology is sufficiently advanced then it will appear as magic to ignorant people. So, supposedly, we, as readers, may be ignorant of the ways of the universe because we can't really understand how these "non-magical" devil fruits work. But like... Of course we can't... That shit isn't real. It's based on some man's imagination.
--
I'll tell you the main issue with using Life Force Energy as a plot device! It's the same reason modern science CONDEMNS it.
It's simple. By using Life Force Energy, a person can do anything they want. Anything. That's because the souls of people are ultimately tied to the creator of the universe. Therefore, they can tap into godly powers such as reality warping. It makes for a fun story, but it doesn't work in real life.
I want to make a point about this series, "One Piece." It may be improper to apply modern sensibilities to it because it may be based on esotericism and beyond this it gets into mysticism (mysticism is like a step further than esotericism in the sense that esoterics are not magical but mystics are magical). Mysticism is a cousin to Fantasy.
The main difference between this story and real life situations is a concept known as Life Force Energy which has been dismissed by modern science. However, this is an Eastern Comic Book that is popular worldwide. To be clear, Eastern Esotericism/Mysticism is difficult to understand for Western readers for many reasons. It includes magical elements that aren't fully understood and involve something described as "secret knowledge" that only a few people even among Eastern cultures will fully understand.
It is also damaging for some readers because they, themselves, are hoping Willpower will let them do whatever they want to because their spirit is stronger or whatever. Hyping up whoever has stronger Haki and what not.
Let's be real, Luffy is a whiny character and his Haki is based on getting upset. He's unstable as a person and he'd likely get himself into trouble if people weren't watching out for him and he wasn't constantly in the sea where nobody gives af what he does.
Anyway... This post is just to make a point about how the story isn't compatible with most readers sense of reality. It's Chakra and karma and all that stuff and the West has abandoned that life force energy nonsense ages ago.
To be clear, the East believes in "subtle energy". It is claimed that scientific instruments can never find 'subtle energy" because it's f***Ing subtle. But, basically, the west just believes it's not even there.
For example, the idea of the soul creating energy! Yeah, that doesn't exist in the West. As far as the West is concerned, there really is no proof a soul even exists. It's imaginary. However, in the East, it is largely believed souls do exist as they do generate energy.
However, it was also said in Doctor Stone, that if someone could generate energy from souls then they would be digging up your mom's grave and use her soul to power their house (or something to that effect). It's such an unreal idea that it's just not gonna happen.
Anyway... The magic in the story is, in fact, magic. They say things like Devil Fruits aren't magic. But, they are. They're based on pseudo-science from the East that presumes ancient technology can really do this kind of stuff. It plays on the idea that if technology is sufficiently advanced then it will appear as magic to ignorant people. So, supposedly, we, as readers, may be ignorant of the ways of the universe because we can't really understand how these "non-magical" devil fruits work. But like... Of course we can't... That shit isn't real. It's based on some man's imagination.
--
I'll tell you the main issue with using Life Force Energy as a plot device! It's the same reason modern science CONDEMNS it.
It's simple. By using Life Force Energy, a person can do anything they want. Anything. That's because the souls of people are ultimately tied to the creator of the universe. Therefore, they can tap into godly powers such as reality warping. It makes for a fun story, but it doesn't work in real life.
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