Quote Originally Posted by Andjay View Post
I haven't read this whole thread, but regarding the OP, I think he's more or less accurate.

Tolkien regarded nature as being superior to technology. There was an order to the chaos of nature which was less intuitive, perhaps, or that we were not as well-equipped to see, than was evident in our limited and flawed creations.

This theme is repeated time and time again, and moreover, is central to Tolkien's faith. Whether it be the Ainu rebelling under Melkor's leadership, or the Noldor under Feanor's, or the Numenoreans under Ar-Pharazon (I got that right, right?) or Sauron, or Saruman, the temptation of trying to fit everything into an order that makes sense to you is the height of sin--it's called Hubris in literature.

The One Ring was essentially a physical manifestation of Hubris. It carries great power, power in equal measure to that of the wielder. Its temptation grows as does the bearer's wisdom--the more you know about God's plan, the farther you're able to "see" and arrange things according to your own design. But your model will still be fatally flawed.

But I think it's relevant to say that this is probably the chief means by which Sauron corrupts Saruman.
I agree completely, ordering to their own desires been Ainu or Valar their lust of power grew exponentially once they used the residual evil left in Middle earth by Melkor(orcs, trolls, etc) even the black powder the discussion is about might be evil to use it its like the nuclear bomb you need high technology knowledge to use it, hence Saruman using it its something that even if free people had knwoledge about wouldn't use it against their enemy, adding into the malice of Saruman.

Sauron is steward of evil in Middle earth he definetly uses more "magical" methods than saruman because magic also exists in tolkien mythos, like controlling weather and torture hills and forest by will alone, thats what Sauron did along with necromancy and other means like forging the ring prime example of (tech and magic) mixed up.