Magic Is A Sufficiently Advanced Technology

I have a saying, it is “Magic is indistinguishable from a sufficiently advanced technology,” which is very close to something Arthur C. Clarke said which is “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Ok, I stole his saying and reversed it, I confess.

Sadly it is true. In olden times magicians would make balls levitate and float across audiences. It was a trick involving wires and threads. But you knew that. Now you can buy drones that do the same thing. Look at airhogs.com. Where is the magic in that?

In those good old days we read an audience member’s secret writing hidden inside an envelope using skills perfected over decades. (Often involving peaking. Actually always involving peaking.) Now you can buy writing pads that will transmit any drawing to a video screen on your wrist.

Cold reading an audience required psychological insights, and cojones of steel. “Is there anyone here called Margaret?” (I suspect Margaret is a very common name for an audience member at this sort of event.) But now I can see the names of people paying by credit card. I look at them on Facebook. Now I can say “Is there anyone here called Margaret, who went on holiday to Ibiza with friends and kissed a Spanish waiter?” Too easy. There’s no skill anymore.

What do you want, Instagram or magic? You can’t have both.