Apr 30, 2026, 7:25 AMAt some point the corporations realized that Clarke's logic works in reverse, and any sufficiently advanced sleight of hand is indistinguishable from technology
- Apr 30, 2026, 7:25 AM
Replies
Phil Bettsphilbetts@mastodon.socialApr 30, 2026, 7:35 AM@mia my goodness what an observation! 👏
klegdixalklegdixal@vivaldi.netApr 30, 2026, 8:53 AM@mia the corollary went something like sufficiently analysed magic is indistinguishable from technology. At least in Girl Genius comics.
Pratchett wrote something along the lines of no matter how much sizzle you make eventually you have to produce the sausage.
SamuelJohnsonsamueljohnson@mstdn.socialMay 3, 2026, 10:15 AM@klegdixal @mia Elizabeth Holmes can confirm. #Theranos
⁂ Fish Id Wardrobefishidwardrobe@mastodon.me.ukApr 30, 2026, 11:53 AM@mia programmers have been using this fact pretty much since programming was a thing.
most business programming is just the formalising of information into rigid data and then using that rigid data to give the user summaries and "insights". it's been this way since at least Lyons Tea Shops°.
But it's really the users that turn the information into rigid data. the computer can't do that.
🇺🇦 haxadecimal 🚫👑brouhaha@mastodon.socialMay 1, 2026, 2:10 PM@mia
The contrapositive of Clarke's third law is:Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
Bakunin Boysbakuninboys@aus.socialMay 3, 2026, 3:21 AM
Kevin Russellkevinrns@mstdn.socialMay 3, 2026, 6:04 AMOh my. Well done. That's going to be repeated. Deservedly.
