It depends on what you define infusion as. Three big theme of magic versus tech isn’t that magic stops existing, but that tech radically changes the balance of power in how to use magic. To use a fire wizard as an example, the best use of a fire wizard is different between the medieval era and industrial era.
For the medieval era, the best use of a fire wizard is as magical artillery. Sieges are likely broken as the attacking army has enough fire power from their wizards to burn away defenders in a castle. You likely need these wizards to understand strategy, so they will likely be generals or kings. A fire wizard is going to have a high status in society.
For the industrial era, the best use of a fire wizard is as a replacement for coal. Weapons on the battlefield have replaced the need of fire wizards and some weapons have enough range to be a threat to the wizards, negating their need. Instead, a fire wizard is either used to melt metal or to power a steam engine because they are cheaper than using coal. At best, a fire wizard is going to be at the level of skilled labor in this society as their efforts are best used to be an energy supply.
That shift in power is going to have major ramifications on societies.
Good points. My thought is that in an industrial age, magic users would come to the same conclusion as everyone else—that wealth is now firmly the truest source of political and social power. In my world, fire wizard labor wouldn’t be cheaper than coal—especially coming from an age where they held nobility status. Rather, they would become the most elite scientists and engineers, helping to magically enhance its efficacy. In fact, they may well be the ones to push for it in the first place, as any fire wizard offering magically-enhanced coal in place of traditional in-person wizards or mundane coal would blast their competitors away because of economies of scale. I think it would generally mirror what happened in our world, just with the fact of x + magic = x but better tacked on to everything.
It depends on what you define infusion as. Three big theme of magic versus tech isn’t that magic stops existing, but that tech radically changes the balance of power in how to use magic. To use a fire wizard as an example, the best use of a fire wizard is different between the medieval era and industrial era.
For the medieval era, the best use of a fire wizard is as magical artillery. Sieges are likely broken as the attacking army has enough fire power from their wizards to burn away defenders in a castle. You likely need these wizards to understand strategy, so they will likely be generals or kings. A fire wizard is going to have a high status in society.
For the industrial era, the best use of a fire wizard is as a replacement for coal. Weapons on the battlefield have replaced the need of fire wizards and some weapons have enough range to be a threat to the wizards, negating their need. Instead, a fire wizard is either used to melt metal or to power a steam engine because they are cheaper than using coal. At best, a fire wizard is going to be at the level of skilled labor in this society as their efforts are best used to be an energy supply.
That shift in power is going to have major ramifications on societies.
Good points. My thought is that in an industrial age, magic users would come to the same conclusion as everyone else—that wealth is now firmly the truest source of political and social power. In my world, fire wizard labor wouldn’t be cheaper than coal—especially coming from an age where they held nobility status. Rather, they would become the most elite scientists and engineers, helping to magically enhance its efficacy. In fact, they may well be the ones to push for it in the first place, as any fire wizard offering magically-enhanced coal in place of traditional in-person wizards or mundane coal would blast their competitors away because of economies of scale. I think it would generally mirror what happened in our world, just with the fact of
x + magic = x but bettertacked on to everything.