The S.S. Essess's definitions
Technology so advanced in its effects and unexplained in its function that it may as well be magic. Often used by science-fiction fans and authors to refer to technology that's used as "magic in a non-magical setting".
"The reader doesn't need to know how it works, and they understand that the author isn't going to tell them how it works. That's unimportant to the story and would bog things down with irrelevant details... All that matters is that it works and it can do what the story needs."
The "Heisenberg compensators" that make Star Trek's Transporters possible are an example of clarketech, with Gene Roddenberry's answer for how they work being "Very well, thank you".
Taken from Arthur C. Clarke's third law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic".
"The reader doesn't need to know how it works, and they understand that the author isn't going to tell them how it works. That's unimportant to the story and would bog things down with irrelevant details... All that matters is that it works and it can do what the story needs."
The "Heisenberg compensators" that make Star Trek's Transporters possible are an example of clarketech, with Gene Roddenberry's answer for how they work being "Very well, thank you".
Taken from Arthur C. Clarke's third law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic".
by The S.S. Essess July 10, 2022
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