Now in the games everybody could use some types of magic. Hell your PC always starts off with at least two spells. Would this be true in lore, that everybody can utilize magic? Would someone be born with it, or could anyone naturally learn any spell? To me, it would make a lot more sense that some people are born with magic and other are not. Though, those born without could possibly learn minor spells.

Everyone has the ability to use magic.

Potential, I would say more so than ability. Its not like every joe knows how to throw a fireball.

I suppose that makes sense, after all anyone could pick up a sword, or a bow. It all just depends on the person and their skill.

The Pocket Guide talks about the Battlemage Aristocracy in the Nibian Basin, which would imply that magic users (Battlemages in particular) are a major power in politics and the social higharcy of the Basin. If everyone was able to just do magic on a whim, there would be no need for a magical aristocracy,

Everyone has the natural and innate capacity for magic, but not everyone can afford the education needed to learn magic. It's like how large segments of a populace might be illiterate before the inception of mandatory schooling, or how most people's knowledge of math tends not to extend much beyond the ability to bungle their taxes. Nothing prohibits them from learning to read or getting better at math in the biological/spiritual sense, but it doesn't mean that they have the time/energy/wealth needed to afford the necessary education.

Right, I absolutely agree. Everyone has the potential to use magicka, but its not something you can just do as perceived in the game where half the population knows how to use Magicka.

Everyone has the potential to know some sort of martial arts (karate) and be a black belt, but it's not something that everybody has. Magic use is a combination of practice, education and natural ability. Race, the stars you were born under and perhaps hereditary factors other than race could also play a role. The way magic use is portrayed in the game all boils down to game mechanics and not restricting ourselves. Anyone could join the mages guild and even ascend to Archmage only knowing the spells you were given at the start or through the mage quests.

Magicka comes from Atherius, and without the stars which are just big holes Magnus and his dudes left when they made their great escape, so I'm really not confident about how much it is about the the user as being about how much they know. WIthout the stars, magicka wouldn't exist on Nirn from what I understand so really it has nothing to do with the person themselves, just how much their willing to learn and being naturally adept seems like a crock of bull (game play) to me.

You ask me, the difference between an archmage and a peasant's ability to use magic would be like the difference between Mozart's ability to play piano and write music and me being able to play piano and write music, respectively.

Yeah, I can mindlessly smash the keys, but am I doing anything remotely good? Hells no! Nails on a chalkboard sounds better. Same deal with a peasant trying to do magic when compared to a real user of magic.

Altmer, for example, at more adept at magic than other races. In terms of a comparison, we can say that they are born with more magic, or at least with the capability of using more. An Orc, for example, does not have the ability. But yes, everyone can use magic. But the degree to which varies from race and individuals.

I think the best metaphor is that magic is like backflips. Unless you're crippled, you have the potential to do a backflip, but the average dude just isn't going to be doing backflips all the time. Some people are proficient at backflips, while some can do, like, seven in a row. Everyone has the potential to become a mage, but the average dude just isn't going to be shooting sparks from his fingers. Some people are just capable of using magic to light a fire, while some can summon storms of lightning to smite their enemies.

The PC being able to cast magic so easily really isn't that strange, when compared to his other capabilities. The PC is always very skilled at aventurin' type stuff.

Tamriel is a magical place. The Real Barenziah shows that even the poorest of the urban poor have access to magical healing. Most people have probably seen some magic, but its hardly omnipresent.

Well, also, Altmer have magic as an inherent part of their cultural heritage. So it may not be a racial as much as a cultural ability, since Altmer girls and boys are likely taught how to magic their bedside lamps on from the cradle while an Orc will be using more mundane techniques long into advlthood.

The martial arts anology was best, I feel. It's easier to learn the younger you start, and some people have a bit more of a natural talent than others, but it isn't something your average person can't learn, even if some people need to train harder to get the same result as another person.

Magic in TES is more than just the spells categorised by the Mages Guild into neat little schools. No?

Yes. It is sunlight and starlight. But the point of this thread is the use of it by people, which is most easily traced by the use of spells, although Lord of Souls shows that there is a lot of ways to use magic outside the very rigid constructions set up by various organizations.