Beyond the Rhetoric

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

I heard this quote the other night on Fringe when Walter exclaimed that someone close to him once said those words. They looked familiar, so I had to look up the source.

Considering that he teamed up with Stanley Kubrick to write 2001: A Space Odyssey, I think it’s safe to say that Arthur C. Clarke is no stranger to the world of science fiction. In fact, he is best known as a science fiction author, inventor, and futurist.

Clarke was also given the honorable title of Sri Lankabhimanya, meaning the Pride of Sri Lanka, in 2005. This is the highest civil honor for “exceptionally outstanding and most distinguished service to the nation.”

As you know, I spend a good part of my day reading and writing about gadgets and advances in technology, so I like to believe that I am keeping up with the bleeding edge of innovation. Arthur C. Clarke could be seen in much the same light, always looking ahead to what science could bring right around the next corner. He was always looking for what could result from the next great discovery.

We look upon the world with wide-eyed wonder a lot of the time and we struggle to find suitable explanations for it. However, much of what we consider to be paranormal or supernatural be understood through proper scientific investigation.

Imagine if you went to someone in the 17th century with a cell phone, demonstrating how you could communicate wirelessly with someone on the other side of the Earth. Imagine if you showed them the “horseless carriage” of Ford. It’s magic, right?

Sometimes, science will find things by accident, but don’t be convinced by heretics and voodoo dolls. Know that there is usually a perfectly reasonable and logical explanation out there. Is this compatible with faith? I’ll leave that up to you decide.

Tags: magic, memorable quotes, science

Filed under Technology.