It's not magic; it's the future! - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

alatar · 04-16-2009, 10:10 AM

You've must have heard the quote "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," attributed to Arthur C. Clarke by now. What it's saying is that, some artifact may appear to be magical, but that may be due to our lack of understanding on how it works. For example, many of you carry incredibly powerful technology on your person and think nothing of it - the cell phone. Take one of these devices - especially one with a cool touch screen - back into the past, say about sometime in the 1970's. To those inhabitants of that time, the device that you show them is 'magical' (or maybe 'futuristic,' given the era), as it's like nothing that they've seen. Smaller than a TV, colour screen at incredible resolution, able to transport voice, text and images across space (note that for an adequate demonstration, you might want to bring two phones and a bunch of cell towers and a link to the future's internet), GPS, etc.

You think nothing of it; your time ancestors think it incredible. Little do they know that one day they will receive and *ignore* messages about how they can buy one of these little devices CHEAP!

Anyway, with this in mind, I would like to list out any and all magical artifacts found in the confines of Arda, and indicate that they weren't really magic, but just from a different time such as ours.

For example:

Palantíri - cell phones with video conferencing technology

Phial of Galadriel - flash light

The Black Arrow - a handheld surface-to-air self-guided missile

Athelas - Passiflora

Any other examples? Disagree with mine? Think of something that is still magical, even in this age?

04-16-2009, 10:10 AM	#1
alatar Doubting Dwimmerlaik Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Heaven's basement Posts: 2,466	It's not magic; it's the future! You've must have heard the quote "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," attributed to Arthur C. Clarke by now. What it's saying is that, some artifact may appear to be magical, but that may be due to our lack of understanding on how it works. For example, many of you carry incredibly powerful technology on your person and think nothing of it - the cell phone. Take one of these devices - especially one with a cool touch screen - back into the past, say about sometime in the 1970's. To those inhabitants of that time, the device that you show them is 'magical' (or maybe 'futuristic,' given the era), as it's like nothing that they've seen. Smaller than a TV, colour screen at incredible resolution, able to transport voice, text and images across space (note that for an adequate demonstration, you might want to bring two phones and a bunch of cell towers and a link to the future's internet), GPS, etc. You think nothing of it; your time ancestors think it incredible. Little do they know that one day they will receive and ignore messages about how they can buy one of these little devices CHEAP! Anyway, with this in mind, I would like to list out any and all magical artifacts found in the confines of Arda, and indicate that they weren't really magic, but just from a different time such as ours. For example: Palantíri - cell phones with video conferencing technology Phial of Galadriel - flash light The Black Arrow - a handheld surface-to-air self-guided missile Athelas - Passiflora Any other examples? Disagree with mine? Think of something that is still magical, even in this age? __________________ There is naught that you can do, other than to resist, with hope or without it.