Technology and Magic

Perhaps obvious for most of you, but I'm usually a bit behind, so here we go.

When i was younger, about 18 years old, I was fond of science fiction, but I despised fantasy.

Science fiction was promising a future that was going to happen, where fantasy was dreaming up a world which was never going to exist, which was romantic, primitive and outright impossible.

Then, Arthur C. Clarke came along and said: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

I made experiences that confronted me with the mystic, the beyond, the infinite, the divine, and the existential questions in life - all those elements which contribute to fantasy.

I recognize now that this past of dragons, wizards, gnomes, trolls, elves and witches could very well be our future. Perhaps, after a third world war, about which Einstein said, that he has got no idea with what kind of weapons the third world war will be fought, but the fourth will be fought with sticks and stones.

Sticks and stones, and the remnants of a technologically sufficiently advanced society, which no one in that primitive and outright impossible post-war era will be able to comprehend.

A world, where wizards and witches appear as tragic characters: able to use and master magic, but never allowed to understand where it is coming from. And from that point of view, our universe could very well be some piece of sufficiently advanced technology. I'm going to touch the topic of the tragic wizard in another post as well.

For those interested in technology and magic issues, I suggest reading "A fire upon the deep" by Vernor Vinge, an excellent and entertaining novel. It touches partially upon my ideas, confronting medieval times with advanced societies and their technology.