My mom and are steadily working through my tea collection. In the meantime, another selection by the way-back machine of posts-from-blogs-past! Enjoy!
Science as Magic (original post 2/2010)
(Editorial note: my thoughts on this are surprisingly unchanged. In fact, I believe this even more now than I did then)
Is it just me, or has the world become ridiculously complicated?
Now, I’m a huge fan of the complex: I studied fluid mechanics, whose differential equations are almost as complicated as those fascinating constructions used in physics (my other love). Math was always my favorite subject, especially when it zoomed off into infinite series and tortured integrals and mated with physics to produce understandings of the world that could only exist in numerical form.
Our friend, the Navier-Stokes equation.
… is beaten by …
Schrodinger’s equation, of the cat fame.
I know. Me = geek.
But something has changed from those simple, ancient days in the 80’s and 90’s when I was in graduate school. The world has become more complicated than any one single human can hold in their minds at the same time.
The world has always been complicated, but it used to be that one could understand how the phone worked – I mean actually worked, not just how to make a call – without needing advanced degrees in microelectronics. Now the manual to use the phone resembles a miniature phone book, and the phone books themselves exist mostly on the interwebs.
My husband spent the weekend recreationally writing code to print out rocket designs, because the boy is serious about his rocket building hobby. He even tracked down and downloaded code writing software (similar to this arduino ide download link here) to help him complete this task. (I know. Hubby = geek, too.) He commented how it was fun because it was challenging, yet simple compared to his work at the office designing software to run the latest high tech water softener. He was lamenting that the code had gotten so complex he could no longer hold all the options for it in his head at the same time. We’re not talking Windows 7 here, people. We’re talking code for a household appliance.
The idea that sufficiently advanced technology is the same as magic, is not new (thank you, Arthur C. Clarke). However, I never expected to be one of the peasants, in awe of the latest gift from the gods. And when the technorati themselves are baffled by their own creations … well, it starts to sound like one of those sci-fi dystopias that sent shivers down my back as a youngster.
How does this relate to books? I wonder if the profusion of magic and the fantastic in the last 20 years or so is less a result of the Harry Potter/Twilight fandoms and more an acknowledgement of the reality of our world: the place is freaking amazing! And kind of terrifying. And books have swallowed whole the idea that science is magic, to most of us anyway. So, why bother with the details?
Makes me want to turn luddite and hide in my cave. But there’s no internet there, and I wouldn’t be able to blog, so I guess that’s out.
I think we're beginning to realize that so much is possible – and that is reflected in our writing and our story ideas.
Good post and happy monday!
@Laura Yes, and we're loosening the restraints on our imagination as well.
@Lindsay Thanks for stopping by! 😉
I remember being in third grade and the teacher telling us about microwaves for the first time." You'll be able to cook a potato in six minutes!" It sounded like magic.
(and now we all know how old I am)
Reminds me of the post at the League of Extraordinary Writers today. Very cool.
I have a pretty decent understanding of things like microprocessors, printed circuit boards, and magnetic memory, so computers, smart phones and stuff like that don't seem that amazing to me, but stuff like flight, the Hubble telescope, the international space station … those are things I find fascinating.
@LG Next they'll be telling us teleportation is real. Oh, wait… 🙂
@Matt I guess it's all what you know, but even rocketry used to be more accessible (and glamorous) when it was simpler. I mean, the Apollo 13 guys basically flew to the moon in a tin can powered by flashlight batteries. Fantastically dangerous, but holy cats, that was cool. Now we have satellites for our phones…meh. It just happens with a click of a button…
You just blew my mind with that teleportation link. Wow.
There's one thing I find even more fascinating about day-to-day technology, and it's how our bodies work.
I'm a biochemist and I get to see a lot of it, but everything in the human body is so amazingly complex. Every event is regulated precisely and there are thousands of molecules (most of them proteins) working together to make sure everything runs smoothly.
The idea that such a thing evolved by itself makes me feel… small? clueless? It's hard to describe.
Personally, I still prefer 'real world' fiction, where A+B=C. I don't mind the occasional unknown factor thrown in, but I find it very difficult to get grounded in Fantasy and Paranormal and find the mass fascination with it a bit disconcerting.
Speculative fiction that sounds at least remotely feasible, on the other hand, definitely intrigues me.
@Claudie I agree! Which is why the idea of tinkering with genetic material FREAKS ME OUT (also, I wrote a story about clones).
@JB I think spec fic that is only slightly off from normal has a lot of appeal, drawing in the hard core SF freaks (such as myself) and the normal people. 🙂
you guys are such the precious geek couple! The two rocket scientists. :o) xoxo
I think… ergh. Am I going to say this? I think the decline of a strong religious belief has resulted in the rise in a replacement mysticism.
And can I also say I'm not really that mystical or anything. I just believe humans need a spiritual element to feel whole. 😀 who's the geek now?
I gotta concur with LTM about the increase in mysticism…just sayin'
@LTM and JB I don't disagree, although I think the decline in religious belief has been happening over a longer time scale than this more recent acceleration of science into the mystical arena. Perhaps science is simply feeding into the already resurgent mysticism, by making the world seem a bit surreal. I strongly agree that all humans reach for the divine/spiritual. If there is a spiritual void, we seek to fill it, and that can take lots of forms. As a scientist/engineer and a person of faith, I believe the rational world and the spiritual world are both necessary for the human species to thrive.
Susan, I think that's an astute observation, that "Perhaps science is simply feeding into the already resurgent mysticism, by making the world seem a bit surreal."
A good, thought provoking post! 🙂
@JB "A good, thought provoking post!" Music to my ears! Thank you! 🙂
hi miss susan! wow i had to read this a couple times. then i teleported myself to the kitchen for a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich. i love science and knowing how stuff works. but i gotta tell you i got a neat digital camera last year on my birthday and im still trying to firgure it out. for me the whole world a scary mix of real and fantasy and techy stuff and a big hand full of god. yikes! for sure you got me thinking on this post.
…hugs from lenny
@Lenny You know I love to make people think! I love your "bid hand full of god." Awesome. Also, that teleporter kinda rocks. I need one to fetch me lunch right now! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Oh I'm so glad you are reposting, this is great stuff. I see your point about marveling at our own technology when it gets hard to wrap our brains around things we've produced! If you'd like to see some more technical magic, here's a great link:
http://www.dump.com/2011/02/12/a-day-made-of-glass-cornings-vision-for-the-future-with-specialty-glass-at-the-heart-of-it-video/
@Margo HOLY CATS! There was SO much cool stuff in that link, I don't know where to start! I REALLY like the refridge pictures. And I'm pretty sure my house will NEVER be that clean. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
I think we are so close to so many astounding and barrier breaking scientific discoveries that it's fun to pop them into our writing as a quasi-prediction of what is just around the corner. I'm disappointed I don't have a space car like the Jetsons. BTW Do you know about the THINK GEEK catalog? It sounds like it would be right up your alley.