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* reversed for [[fictional universe]]s involving [[Magic in fiction|magic]]: "Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!"<ref>[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20081205 Girl Genius<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic Sufficiently Analyzed Magic – TV Tropes<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
* reversed for [[fictional universe]]s involving [[Magic in fiction|magic]]: "Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!"<ref>[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20081205 Girl Genius<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic Sufficiently Analyzed Magic – TV Tropes<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
* expanded for fictional universes focusing on [[science fiction]]: "Any technology, no matter how primitive, is magic to those who don't understand it."<ref>[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff300/fv00255.htm Freefall 00255 November 12, 1999<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
* expanded for fictional universes focusing on [[science fiction]]: "Any technology, no matter how primitive, is magic to those who don't understand it."<ref>[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff300/fv00255.htm Freefall 00255 November 12, 1999<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
* used to refer to unexplained archaeological finds and reconstructions of folk mysticism: "Any sufficiently ancient recovered wisdom or artifact is also indistinguishable from magic."{{citation needed|date=November 2014}}
* used to refer to unexplained archaeological finds and reconstructions of folk mysticism: "Any sufficiently ancient recovered wisdom or artifact is also indistinguishable from magic."<ref>{{cite web|title=World Heritage Encyclopedia: CLARKE'S THREE LAWS|url=http://ebooklibrary.org/Articles/Clarke's%20three%20laws?&Words=Law%20Lists|website=ebooklibrary.org|accessdate=1 November 2016}}</ref>


== See also ==
== See also ==

Revision as of 20:04, 1 November 2016

British science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke formulated three prediction-related adages that are known as Clarke's three laws, of which the third law is the best known and most widely cited:

1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Origins

Clarke's first law was proposed by Clarke in the essay "Hazards of Prophecy: The Failure of Imagination", in Profiles of the Future (1962).[1]

The second law is offered as a simple observation in the same essay. Its status as Clarke's second law was conferred by others. In a 1973 revision of Profiles of the Future, Clarke acknowledged the second law and proposed the third. "As three laws were good enough for Newton, I have modestly decided to stop there".

The third law is the best known and most widely cited, and appears in Clarke's 1973 revision of "Hazards of Prophecy: The Failure of Imagination". It echoes a statement in a 1942 story by Leigh Brackett: "Witchcraft to the ignorant, … simple science to the learned".[2] An earlier example of this sentiment may be found in Wild Talents (1932) by the Charles Fort: "...a performance that may some day be considered understandable, but that, in these primitive times, so transcends what is said to be the known that it is what I mean by magic."

Clarke gave an example of the third law when he said that while he "would have believed anyone who told him back in 1962 that there would one day exist a book-sized object capable of holding the content of an entire library, he would never have accepted that the same device could find a page or word in a second and then convert it into any typeface and size from Albertus Extra Bold to Zurich Calligraphic", referring to his memory of "seeing and hearing Lynotype machines which slowly converted ‘molten lead into front pages that required two men to lift them’".[3]

Proposed fourth law

A fourth law has been proposed for the canon, despite Clarke's declared intention of not going one better than Newton. Geoff Holder quotes: "For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert."[4]

Variants of the third law

The third law has inspired many snowclones and other variations:

  • Any sufficiently advanced extraterrestrial intelligence is indistinguishable from God.[5][3] (Shermer's last law)
  • Any sufficiently advanced act of benevolence is indistinguishable from malevolence[6] (referring to artificial intelligence).
  • The following two variants are very similar, and combine the third law with Hanlon's razor
  • Any sufficiently advanced cluelessness is indistinguishable from malice[7] (Clark's law).
  • Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice[3] (Grey's law).
  • Any sufficiently advanced troll is indistinguishable from a genuine kook (Poe's law).
  • Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo.[8]
  • Any sufficiently advanced idea is distinguishable from mere magical incantation provided the former is presented as a mathematical proof, verifiable by sufficiently competent mathematicians.[9]

A contrapositive of the third law is

  • Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced. (Gehm's corollary)[10]

The third law has been:

  • reversed for fictional universes involving magic: "Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!"[11][12]
  • expanded for fictional universes focusing on science fiction: "Any technology, no matter how primitive, is magic to those who don't understand it."[13]
  • used to refer to unexplained archaeological finds and reconstructions of folk mysticism: "Any sufficiently ancient recovered wisdom or artifact is also indistinguishable from magic."[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ "'Hazards of Prophecy: The Failure of Imagination'" in the collection Profiles of the Future: An Enquiry into the Limits of the Possible (1962, rev. 1973), pp. 14, 21, 36.
  2. ^ "The Sorcerer of Rhiannon", Astounding February 1942, p. 39.
  3. ^ a b c Philip Gooden (2015). Skyscrapers, Hemlines and the Eddie Murphy Rule: Life's Hidden Laws, Rules and Theories. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 83. ISBN 9781472915030.
  4. ^ Holder, Geoff (2009). 101 Things to Do with a Stone Circle. The History Press, 2009. Holder offers as his source Clarke's Profiles of the Future (Millennium Edition, 1999, paperback edition page 143, ISBN 0-575-40277-6).
  5. ^ Shermer, Michael (2002-01-01). "Shermer's Last Law". Scientific American. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Rubin, Charles T. (5 November 2008). "What is the Good of Transhumanism?". In Chadwick, Ruth; Gordijn, Bert (eds.). Medical Enhancement and Posthumanity (PDF). Springer. p. 149. ISBN 9789048180059. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 October 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
    Rubin is referring to an earlier work of his:
    Rubin, Charles T. (1996). "First contact: Copernican moment or nine day's wonder?". In Kingsley, Stuart A.; Lemarchand, Guillermo A. (eds.). The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in the Optical Spectrum II: 31 January-1 February 1996, San Jose, California, Band 2704. Proceedings of SPIE – the International Society for Optical Engineering. Bellingham, WA: SPIE—The International Society for Optical Engineering. pp. 161–184. ISBN 978-0-8194-2078-7.
  7. ^ J. Porter Clark (16 November 1994). "Clark's Law". Newsgroup: alt.news.misc. Retrieved 2014-12-10. They were apologetic and seemed sincere, but sufficiently advanced cluelessness is indistinguishable from malice. 8-)
  8. ^ Quote Details: James Klass: Any sufficiently advanced technology... - The Quotations Page
  9. ^ Conesa-Sevilla, J. (2016). Ecopsychology Revisited: For Whom do the Nature Bells Toll? (Ch. 8, pg. 256)
  10. ^ Leeper, Evelyn; Leeper, Mark (5 November 2004). "Correction". The MT Void. 23 (19). Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on 2004-12-29. Retrieved 2015-11-29. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Girl Genius
  12. ^ Sufficiently Analyzed Magic – TV Tropes
  13. ^ Freefall 00255 November 12, 1999
  14. ^ "World Heritage Encyclopedia: CLARKE'S THREE LAWS". ebooklibrary.org. Retrieved 1 November 2016.

External links

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