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An attempt to define 'magic'

Magic is notoriously difficult to define. Dictionaries tend to define it as "whatever is supernatural", but that won't work because the rules of nature are already subject to change in fiction, such as in sci-fi, and we don't call sci-fi technology magic.

I think the primary defining mark of magic is intimacy. Magic is forces that are some combination of:

Triggered/controlled by conditions intrinsically meaningful to people rather than scientifically definable. For example, a power gained from having a certain type of experience, or that only works when you're in genuine danger, as opposed to a power gained from an injection or that only works in the dark.

Not manufacturable

Reactive directly to the wielder's mental state

Inseparable from the person who wields them, instead of coming from a detached physical object

This shows why many of us, including me, are so attracted to the idea. Magical forces feel more personal than technological forces.

In particular I like how it's perfect for natural progression. It's a common theme (especially in game stories) that the hero gets stronger or more powerful as the story progresses, and when magic is magic instead of technology, this is easy. In stories like Star Wars it just happens at the story's whim because it was never defined exactly what makes you become stronger with the Force. Some of my old (scrapped) stories with more explained magic systems had rules like "when you kill someone, you absorb their magic". You can just define whatever pattern of growth suits your story.

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