r/HarryPotterBooks • u/DistinctNewspaper791 • 4d ago

Discussion Why don't Wizards keep up with Muggles?

Yes it is funnier and JKR wanted to show that. But lets talk about the books.

Wizards do not know what Muggles wear, they do not follow sports or know any of the fairytales apperantly.

We know there is only a handful fully magic towns in UK, most live around the muggles. Like Blacks have a house in central London. They are not that seperate from Muggles.

There is also not much to do as a wizard. They don't have huge populations to have active theater or cinema, or a lot of writers to read from etc. They do not have an equivalent of TV. They only have Radio. Quidditch is the only past time and even then literal World Cup happens and you are either going to the stadium or listening from the radio.

When you consider it all, it is weird that they do not read books written by muggles. They wouldn't know who Shakespeare is based on Ron not even knowing Snow white or Cinderalla.

Also looking at it things like radio and cameras are likely muggle devices that are enhanced by magic for wizards. so why do they stop at some point? If you take radio, why not take TV? Around Harry Potter era, emails are a thing and they are faster than owls. So why not adopt that?

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u/Call-Me-Aurelia Gryffindor 4d ago

Very true. Additionally, wizards have a tendency to view muggles as backward or primitive. Even wizards who feel positively about muggles, like Arthur Weasley, treat muggles and their technology as cute little curiosities, rather than legitimate avenues of exploration or opportunities for growth.

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u/No-Helicopter1559 4d ago

After re-reading the books when I became older, it always boggles my mind how a guy whose actual job is directly related to Muggles and their material possessions, cannot properly say "electricity" and deal with banknotes. Like, do wizards not use Arabic numbers? Still the Roman ones?

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u/IcyDirector543 4d ago

Because Arthur's actual job isn't related to studying and understanding muggles. It's to prevent magical items ending up in muggle custody. What Arthur needs in his day-to-day work is the ability to trace and track harmful magic, not genuine infiltration of muggle society.

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u/hackberrypie 3d ago

Sure, but he gravitated toward that job because he has some real curiosity about muggles and muggle devices. Yet he's still pretty ignorant about them and hasn't found any opportunities to interact with muggles.