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My Arthur C Clarke bit
Mar. 18th, 2008 09:54 pmI feel that it's my duty as a sci-fi-geek-nerd type to say something about Arthur C. Clarke, but I find that my words are strangely absent. I feel like I may have taken his presence in my life for granted, and maybe I've missed out on some things because of that. A man as great as he was seemed more like a tidal force than a human being.
The first time I felt his influence was when I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey as a small child. My parents had HBO, and it was a luxury I didn't fully appreciate back in the late 70s / early 80s, though I managed to watch a ton of films as a kid. So I saw this movie and completely didn't understand any of it at all. It was probably the most avant garde thing I'd ever seen up to that point. Kubrick gets his laurels for that as well, but he wouldn't have gone anywhere without Arthur's story.
I think his second impact on my life was a little bit later with the ubiquitous "advanced technology indistinguishable from magic" quote. It resonates so very strongly with me, and may have helped lead to my rejection of the supernatural, and my belief that anything could be understood given enough time and resources (of course at that time I wasn't aware of things like Godel's theorem and non-computability, but I still like to cling tenaciously to that vine while I eat the strawberry). We live in a magic time where we have superpowers, and everyone before us who had technology more advanced than the previous generation lived in a magic time, and when we someday make contact with an advanced civilization, *they* will have magic and possibly godlike powers. Who the hell knows what's coming in the next 50 years? Teleportation? Quantum devices that predict the future? Synthetic beings with neural bio-computer brains? Why not?
Oddly, I haven't read any of his books to this very day. I know *of* them, I know many of the basic premises of his stories, but I've not actually read the words. Asimov was my literary sci fi hero growing up, and I had my hands full reading through all his prolific works.
Thanks for being a part of my life Mr. Clarke. I think I'll try to incorporate a little more of you into it while I can.
The first time I felt his influence was when I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey as a small child. My parents had HBO, and it was a luxury I didn't fully appreciate back in the late 70s / early 80s, though I managed to watch a ton of films as a kid. So I saw this movie and completely didn't understand any of it at all. It was probably the most avant garde thing I'd ever seen up to that point. Kubrick gets his laurels for that as well, but he wouldn't have gone anywhere without Arthur's story.
I think his second impact on my life was a little bit later with the ubiquitous "advanced technology indistinguishable from magic" quote. It resonates so very strongly with me, and may have helped lead to my rejection of the supernatural, and my belief that anything could be understood given enough time and resources (of course at that time I wasn't aware of things like Godel's theorem and non-computability, but I still like to cling tenaciously to that vine while I eat the strawberry). We live in a magic time where we have superpowers, and everyone before us who had technology more advanced than the previous generation lived in a magic time, and when we someday make contact with an advanced civilization, *they* will have magic and possibly godlike powers. Who the hell knows what's coming in the next 50 years? Teleportation? Quantum devices that predict the future? Synthetic beings with neural bio-computer brains? Why not?
Oddly, I haven't read any of his books to this very day. I know *of* them, I know many of the basic premises of his stories, but I've not actually read the words. Asimov was my literary sci fi hero growing up, and I had my hands full reading through all his prolific works.
Thanks for being a part of my life Mr. Clarke. I think I'll try to incorporate a little more of you into it while I can.