1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. 2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. 3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of pushing boundaries and recognizes that advanced technology can seem magical.
Arthur C. Clarke's quote reflects on the nature of scientific understanding and discovery. The first part suggests that respected scientists are likely accurate in their assessment of what is possible, but may misjudge what is impossible. The second part encourages exploration beyond current limits to uncover new possibilities, while the final statement highlights that as technology becomes more advanced, it can appear magical to those who do not understand it. Together, these thoughts inspire innovation and a willingness to challenge perceived limits in science and technology.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of scientific innovation.
Nowhere in space will we rest our eyes upon the familiar shapes of trees and plants, or any of the animals that share our world. Whatsoever life we meet will be as strange and alien as the nightmare creatures of the ocean abyss, or of the insect empire whose horrors are normally hidden from us by their microscopic scale.
As our own species is in the process of proving, one cannot have superior science and inferior morals. The combination is unstable and self-destroying.
It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value.
The best measure of a man's honesty isn't his income tax return. It's the zero adjust on his bathroom scale.
It was the mark of a barbarian to destroy something one could not understand.
My favorite definition of an intellectual: 'Someone who has been educated beyond his/her intelligence'.
We could call order by the name of God, but it would be an impersonal God. There's not much personal about the laws of physics.
I just try to stuff my brain with everything that I can read on what is going on in science at a very high level, and sometimes I see connections of what might need to be done.
It is hard to overstate how valuable it is to have all the incredible tools that are used for human disease to study plants.
I do not remember how it got into my head to make the first calculations related to rocket. It seems to me the first seeds were planted by famous fantaseour, J. Verne.
Astronomy leads us to a unique event, a universe which was created out of nothing, and delicately balanced to provide exactly the conditions required to support life. In the absence of an absurdly improbable accident, the observations of modern science seem to suggest an underlying, one might say, supernatural plan.
It seems that if one is working from the point of view of getting beauty in one's equations, and if one has really a sound insight, one is on a sure line of progress.
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