I'm pretty sure all of us here know Clarke's Third Law, but I'll repeat it anyway: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
More and more I think we've already passed that stage for the vast majority of people and think it could be at the root of a lot of people's technophobia. We probably hit it around electrification and it's only gotten more-so since.
Take, for example, nuclear power. Sure, I know very little about how a nuclear power plant actually works. I'd be totally lost if someone dropped me into the middle of one. At the same time, I do understand the basic idea behind them and the basic science behind it. I've gotten a grounding in physics, even if I didn't do so hot, so when I hear the term "radiation" I have a vague scientific understanding of what it means. How many people can actually say that? I'm sure someone has some numbers somewhere, and I'm sure those numbers would be low. And while very few people actually use such terms, for everyone else, it's probably just seen as magic, same as modern medicine and electricity. And since it's gotten a bad rap, black magic probably.
When I think about people falling for pseudoscience in medicine and going for all these bullshit "alternative" treatments, I wonder if they really know the difference. The term-dropping of magnetic quantum aura-therapy probably sounds like exactly the same magic as the doctors say.
Any thoughts?
Sufficiently Advanced Technology
Moderator: Charon