There is a Muggle studies class. Very little about its curriculum, or how up to date it is, is ever revealed in the books, much less the films.Imperial528 wrote: ↑2018-03-01 11:19pm If I recall correctly Hogwarts has an actual Muggle Studies class which even includes a research paper on internet use and other lessons on cutting edge things in Muggle culture.
I don't recall any mention of it covering the internet specifically, but maybe Pottermore has more.
Beware: elements of the fandom tend to exaggerate wizarding backwardness heavily.To a degree I am willing to buy that a majority of wizarding society in Britain are ignorant of the wider world because of how self imposed their isolation is and how complete it is for the average wizard.
There is no good reason whatsoever for most muggle borns or half bloods to be ignorant of at least basic trends in the Muggle world, and even for purebloods, it varies (according to Pottermore, Kingsley is a pureblood, and he was able to get a job in the PM's staff undercover and convince the Muggle Prime Minister that he was a model, but otherwise ordinary, employee).
Probably, yes, for many wizards.As is they must have sizable portions of Britain completely obscured from the larger world and it would not surprise me if there's a sense that going on the outside unnecessarily would endanger that isolation.
Yet many clearly do socialize out of that bubble, given the number of half-bloods (note: this may vary by country and era- '20s Wizarding American in the Fantastic Beasts film was almost completely isolated by law, including prohibiting marriage to Muggles).
Also, keep in mind that the Wizarding population is small. Like, as in one small town spread across all of Britain small. Probably too small to really support itself in complete isolation (Hagrid says in CoS that if Wizards hadn't intermarried, they'd have died out, and he's probably right).
So the amount of land they have to conceal is probably relatively small, actually. The biggest area is almost certainly around Hogwarts/Hogsmede, which is an entire castle, grounds, forest, and village basically hidden away.
And of course, size can be deceptive with magic- Diagon Ally, for example, could be a pocket dimension that's much bigger on the inside. Also, a lot of their institutions build down underground- the Ministry appears to be mostly subterranean IIRC, as is Gringotts.
The "technology doesn't work near magic" thing is (as previously covered in this thread) a grossly exaggerated fanon brain bug. The only confirmed place where technology is interfered with is Hogwarts, and even then I think its only electronics specifically, at most.Add in that you don't get acquainted to things that you're not really around, and that for the purposes of wizarding society most muggle technology is rendered useless near magic or is obsolete in comparison (such as stitching a wound) then most wizards are probably in a cycle of ignorance that requires well placed effort to really get out of.
Personally, I suspect that this is another symptom of the fact that many fanfic writers seem to shamelessly borrow from Dresden Files, plus the usual Flanderization tendencies of fandom.
Off the top of my head:Though frankly I find the existing material on the wizard's perspectives of muggle technology to be underwhelming. It'd be very entertaining to explore their reactions especially since there are several areas where modern technology and magic don't have true equivalents to each other.
Technology: Space travel, the internet, film and television, possibly some medical techniques related to resuscitating the dead, possibly nuclear weapons (depending on just how powerful fiendfyre is).
Magic: Advanced and reliable non-lethal ranged weaponry, easy duplication of most resources (Wizards should be more or less post-scarcity, in most respects), personal stealth, fucking teleportation, time travel, human-like AIs, knowledge of what actually happens after death, and bigger on the inside pocket dimensions.
Possibly, but if so, its a fairly weak effect. One spell, or ten spells, or a major duel, probably won't blow out electronics. I think it takes a high degree of saturation, based on canon evidence.A thought I've had while reading this thread is on the nature of magical interference: My guess would be that magic is ultimately an electromagnetic phenomenon and so interferes the same way a powerful solar flare can cause interference in communication or surges in power lines.
Indeed.If this assumption is true then it shouldn't be difficult to shield electronics against low level magic the same as against weak EMP effects or other forms of electrical interference.