Page 15 - Ruminations

13. “Sufficiently advanced”

Much has been made of Arthur C. Clarke’s dictum that any
sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic; the
applications and implications of that sufficiency are wide and deep:

1. As a literary phenomenon. It sheds light upon the syncretism of
“hard” science fiction and mystical fantasies. These two speculative
genres have fed off each other for centuries. The great advances in
physical and biological sciences in the twentieth century opened an
ever-wider arena for magic to stay a few steps ahead of new, powerful
and recondite discoveries, appropriating language and methodology
from popular accounts of laboratory breakthroughs. That the resultant
literary legerdemain is often beyond the bounds of the possible does
not matter: it is sufficiently advanced to satisfy its audience.

2. As a psychological phenomenon. The irremediable human
capacity for delusion creates another gap or gray area in which evident
manifestations of manipulated physical phenomena cannot be easily
perceived. This runs the gamut from stage magicians and con artists to
a wide variety of spiritualists and miracle workers. That some real-
world occurrences do not have an immediately apparent cause
encourages gullibility to outstrip skepticism, particularly when mystical
explanations fit previously-held beliefs. This is the principle of the
multiplication of mysteries: each new fantasy acts as confirmation of
the next. Sufficient advancement need be minimal, in this case.

3. As an historical phenomenon. To the extent temporal power is
retained by consent of the mystified, rulers strive to be controllers of
magic, from shamans to divine-right kings. When that legitimacy
includes obfuscating the mundane nature of technology, it is
vulnerable to the spread of knowledge (violating taboos) or being
easily toppled by invaders with superior weaponry (Europeans in the
Age of Conquest or space aliens in science fiction). In the modern age,
owing to widespread education rather than Martian ray guns,
politically entrenched magic has fought desperately to remain
sufficiently advanced.

One may conclude that humanity allows technology to be
surpassed by magic anywhere but in fairy tales at its peril. Clarke was
not merely describing his craft: he was describing a fatal flaw.