What We Talk About When We Talk About Magic

Andy and Anthony talk about the language we use to talk about Magic. Language is fundamental to social experiences, our favorite game included. Creating new language helps us communicate more effectively and helps us think about and compartmentalize concepts, shaping how we thing about things. But jargon has its drawbacks.

View cards mentioned in the episode

Our listener submitted pack 1, pick 1 this week comes from Mozart’s Cube.

Timestamps:

• 4:02 — Introduction to language and Magic
• 4:59 — Pack 1, Pick 1 from Mozart's Cube
• 9:04 — Why do we use specific shorthand and jargon in the first place?
• 12:52 — Linguistic relativity: naming things shapes communication and how we think about concepts
• 15:43 — How specific language can hinder communication
• 22:16 — Why the most rigorous, theoretical terminology can sometimes be the least useful
• 24:25 — Why context is critical to all language
• 25:56 — The dangers of oversimplification
• 26:55 — Grizzly Bears, Goblin Pikers, and Hill Giants
• 33:38 — Thinking in terms of card classifications
• 36:56 — Jargon makes Magic less accessible
• 38:35 — Magic lingo speed round

Discussed in this episode:

• Venn diagrams and Euler Diagrams
• Venn diagrams for high number of sets
• Radiolab on linguistic relativity
• Language Thought and Reality
• List of sandwiches
• Gravity wells
• Patrick Chapin’s Next Level Deckbuilding
• Grizzle Bears alignment chart
• Andy’s “two mana renaissance” Cube update
• Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon
• Enigma Machine

Check us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.

You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:

• Andy’s “Bun Magic” Cube
• Anthony’s “Regular” Cube

If you have a question for the show, or want us to do a pack 1, pick 1 from your cube, email us at [email protected]. Please include how you’d like to be credited, your pronouns, a link to your cube if relevant. You can also find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord.

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Musical production by DJ James Nasty.