|
It is easier to imagine magical effects, that we understand to be technological, in the context of virtual reality where we would have control over the machinery of reality. Perhaps in time, we will discover that we live in a "data universe", a vast program comprised of us and everything else. Then we would be confronted with the question of the nature of the computer.
Clarke was elucidating the perceived difference between a primitive race, such as ourselves, and a galactically ancient one. Year by year our technology becomes more powerful and less visible.
If we met a technology that was beyond our comprehension both in terms of design and use, would we believe it to be technology?
One of my favorite sentences: Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like a banana. My Chinese students like it too.
|