Skuld took a second, but she'd seen this kind of thing on TV often enough. She leaned over and grabbed the paper, glancing at the man as she did; she wasn't quite as stealthy as she thought she was, but she tried. Yeah, he definitely was watching... but how come? And which of them had his attention?
Straightening up again, she hesitated for a second before continuing, "Every type needs training. If you don't have it, even if you can make stuff happen anyway, trial-and-error is inefficient at best--at worst, it's dangerous. If you can make stuff happen but don't know how, or why, then you could hurt somebody. Some manifestations are subtle enough so people just think they're really lucky, or really unlucky; others make it seem like there's a poltergeist around, because so much stuff happens around the untrained person.
"Besides that, even though some people can kind of figure out what they're doing on their own, being self-taught doesn't always work too well." Sure, she'd taught herself almost everything she knew about mechanics and obviously had a natural talent for it, but since it was a science it was also more straightforward than magic. "You need someone to teach you the stuff you wouldn't think of on your own, and to correct any mistakes you're making, since words on a page can be misinterpreted so easily. And it depends a little on the kind of magic, but it takes a long time to learn more than just the basics of almost anything."
no subject
Straightening up again, she hesitated for a second before continuing, "Every type needs training. If you don't have it, even if you can make stuff happen anyway, trial-and-error is inefficient at best--at worst, it's dangerous. If you can make stuff happen but don't know how, or why, then you could hurt somebody. Some manifestations are subtle enough so people just think they're really lucky, or really unlucky; others make it seem like there's a poltergeist around, because so much stuff happens around the untrained person.
"Besides that, even though some people can kind of figure out what they're doing on their own, being self-taught doesn't always work too well." Sure, she'd taught herself almost everything she knew about mechanics and obviously had a natural talent for it, but since it was a science it was also more straightforward than magic. "You need someone to teach you the stuff you wouldn't think of on your own, and to correct any mistakes you're making, since words on a page can be misinterpreted so easily. And it depends a little on the kind of magic, but it takes a long time to learn more than just the basics of almost anything."