Quote Originally Posted by Radar View Post
The way I see it, anyone can cause serious harm and destruction with commonly available items, yet very, very few people try that. For one, most people are not sociopaths, but even those that are, think of the consequences as those kind of deeds are severly punished. The more dangerous would be subtle spells like mind reading and control. Clever and manipulative people can be dangerous even without magic. If they got spells reflecting their personality and desires it could cause huge problems. It is also a matter of being able to catch magic criminals and so on.

And even if it was possible to ramp up everyones magic resistance, it is not nearly enough, since it is very easy to circumvent it: magical explosives could still destroy buildings and being buried under ruble is not at all magical. Simple telekinesis could be used to slip some poison or mind-altering substances to someones food or drink and so on. Remote viewing spells like Sarah's do not even rely on affecting humans and are still dangerous in wrong hands.

It is always possible to adapt to new circumstances as humanity did for thousands of years, but this takes time and there will be a lot of unforseen problems coming up.
You seem to be thinking of the magical equivalent of cars or handguns - things with extremely obvious potential for danger if used carelessly or maliciously. Most of your examples fall into this category.

The bigger danger is the magical equivalent of social media - something that appears completely innocuous at first, but if misused can cause an incredible degree of harm. Imagine a spell that dampens emotions around you a little. Seems harmless - you can prevent fights or bring an overly-excited friend to a measure of sanity. Now imagine the potential effects of using it too much, or for selfish gain.