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
Get the clarketech mug.Umbrella terms for any technology so advanced that its operation is completely indistinguishable from magic to a lower-level intelligence (as per Arthur C. Clarke's Third Law). This isn't a specific tier, but a descriptor for anything from S1 upwards that appears as incomprehensible, physics-defying miracle-working to baseline humans. It often involves principles beyond current scientific understanding, like extra-dimensional engineering or acausal logic.
Transapientech / Godtech / Clarketech Example: A hand-held device that creates any object you imagine ex nihilo, a portal that opens to any location in spacetime, or a prayer that is consistently answered by what seems like divine intervention from a hidden intelligence—all would be perceived as Clarketech by those who don't understand the (immensely advanced) science behind it.
by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal February 3, 2026
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A noun to describe technology so far advanced beyond known science, it might just as well be considered magic.. or to quote the famous science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke from his 1962 book "Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible":
"Any sufficiently advanced technology that is indistinguishable from magic"
"Any sufficiently advanced technology that is indistinguishable from magic"
"Man, how does magic even work in fantasy like Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones or The Colour Of Magic?"
- "I don't know man.. it might have been left by an even more ancient civilization that works via technology embedded in the fabric of spacetime itself that can be accessed by special rituals, certain movements, chemical reactions or interpreted language patterns in the form of sound waves or thought patterns even.. all that that magical shit in fantasy might be science fiction dialed up to 42 on a scale of 1 to 10, basically classifying it as Clarke Tech."
"Whoah.. that shit is deep.." ** takes another bong hit **
- "I don't know man.. it might have been left by an even more ancient civilization that works via technology embedded in the fabric of spacetime itself that can be accessed by special rituals, certain movements, chemical reactions or interpreted language patterns in the form of sound waves or thought patterns even.. all that that magical shit in fantasy might be science fiction dialed up to 42 on a scale of 1 to 10, basically classifying it as Clarke Tech."
"Whoah.. that shit is deep.." ** takes another bong hit **
by cappie2000 March 31, 2022
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