I can’t believe it!

Arthur C. Clarke said it first: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

Very interesting observation and one with some thought-provoking corollaries. It all boils down to the question "What is magic?" A pretty reasonable answer is "That which seems inexplicable and amazing; something that can't be explained by anything I'm familiar with."

You see the catch – it's based on your own knowledge. You may not know how it's done but someone else might. In that case one of you is going to be amazed and the other not.

What's curious is that when someone thinks about Clarke's statement what they likely consider is how a "primitive" people might react to a modern artifact, such as an airplane. They might, for instance, decide to worship it as a god since it clearly appears to be supernatural and magical (at least compared to the birds the natives are familiar with). Giant, non-flapping, metal monsters that stay aloft and make lots of growling and snarling noises. Sounds like a god to me.

And it's so easy to poo poo "savages" for their lack of smarts and insight. WE'D know the difference between the supernatural and the technological, wouldn't we?

Well, I don't think so. Consider that, if we're to believe the bible, Moses conversed with God via a burning bush. Imagine such a thing happening today. Would anyone, upon being confronted by a voice coming from a flaming shrub (or glowing rock or sparkling mailbox) think that they were being directly addressed by God? I kinda doubt it, especially since I know I could arrange that precise situation with a nice loudspeaker.

So what if God DID want to address someone today – how could he do it and be believable?  

Perhaps he'd do it with angels appearing from thin air. Hmmm. Holographic imagery could do that. Or old fashioned magician's smoke and mirrors. Seems a bit too easy to fake. Booming, disembodied voice? Even easier to do.

He could speak directly within your head, I suppose. The thing is, the asylums are filled with people who hear voices and I haven't noticed them getting much play as being envoys of the almighty. Although I have noted a remarkable propensity for politicians and some tele-crazies to suggest they've been privy to just that sort of heavenly guidance.  

And it's not like the human mind isn't easy to fool. It's SO easy to fool that it can get depressing to dwell on it. Psychotropic drugs will let you see a whole range of amazing things, or so I'm told, but that doesn't make them real. People can have fake memories implanted, and it's not just other people doing the implanting. Or own brains are masters at creating false memories, as countless psychological studies have shown.

It's a puzzler. We've all grown so accustomed to amazing technology that I can't think of WHAT it would take for me to believe something mystical was taking place and that I wasn't just the target of some new version of Candid Camera or Punked. You could say that somehow you'd just "know" it's the real deal but there were lots and lots of people who "knew" lots and lots of stuff in the past  that never came to pass.

I think that, in the end, it would all come down to faith. If someone truly believes it's true, then it is. To him. Me? I'm from Missouri.

- And that's today's word from the bird