SCIENCE FICTION THINKING: Technology, Magic + Perception-part 2 of 3

Please read Part I if you missed it

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

— Clarke’s Third Law

II.

MAGIC, SCIENCE FICTION AND TECHNOLOGY

One of my greatest passions and hobbies has been the art and technique of magic. From studying the earliest stage illusionists to 20th century sleight-of-hand pioneers and technicians, I have loved magic since I was a little kid. It’s one of the inspirations behind the name of my company, Perception. The studio walls are even adorned with classic magic posters of Houdini, Kellar and Thurston.

When the team at Perception was designing and conceptualizing new technologies for the mythical world of Wakanda (Black Panther), a very important part of the ongoing dialogue with our visionary Marvel Studios collaborators was ensuring that our futuristic tech ideas always retained a high degree of plausibility and believability. If we went too far — to the realm of the unexplainable and completely miraculous — then this could only be achieved by MAGICAL means, an instant deal-breaker. Does this happen by technology, or magic? That remained the ongoing question we tested each and every idea throughout the design and conceptual phase. But as Clarke’s famous quote above eludes, “Magic” is still the word we use to encompass the wonders of a new technology before it becomes ubiquitous.

Returning to the MIT Media Lab, they actually have a class that uses principles of magic to inspire technology innovation. Entitled “Indistinguishable from…Magic as Interface, Technology and Tradition” the syllabus states: “Engineering illusions requires close attention to the limits of human Perception, disciplined practice of the art of showmanship, and subtle use of the crafts of deception — skills that are just as relevant to contemporary technology demos as they were to 19th century stage illusions.” Like a new technology, magic creates something out of nothing — there is a “thing” there now that did not exist before. Alan Moore (science fiction writer, Watchmen) explains:” Magic is real only in the sense that the human mind can conceive of something that did not exist before and then make it.”

Science Fiction Thinking echoes the creation of magic in the sense that it suggests solutions to problems or technologies to delight, entertain and educate. When these are brought out into reality in the form of functional prototypes, this creation process is complete. Good magic, like all art, is a celebration. It celebrates mystery and wonder and the irrefutable fact that we do not know all the answers and that often it is sufficient to simply know the questions.

Charles Reynolds (the brilliant illusionist, creator and thought leader) wrote that every magic effect can be thought of as a combination of two types of stories: the first is the tale of wonder, the second is the mystery tale that needs solving. Magic fulfills a basic human need for marvels — a deep seated desire to believe in the miraculous and a world in which anything is possible. These are the exact same tenets embedded in Science Fiction Thinking. Indeed, one of the greatest appeals of magic relates to the subconscious desire to control the natural world around us. A magician at the top of his game should increase our respect for the mysteries of life, to reinvigorate the sense of mystery and wonder that sadly dissipates at an early age. “The true magical experience should be more about wonder than wondering,” Reynolds writes.

Many magicians have said that scientists and other highly intelligent audiences gain so much delight in magic because they so enjoy the rare opportunity to visit an imaginary universe where physical laws they are so fluent with no longer apply; where the clearly impossible becomes seemingly possible. “It’s an experiential vacation of a sort. These are people who have the assurance to know that they could easily determine the fundamental secrets of magic if they were inclined to take a trip to the library. The secrets such as they are, are so trivial and accessible that it’s not even necessary to know them. To know they exist is enough.” (Jamy Ian Swiss, Shattering Illusions)

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Here is Part III where I lay out Perception’s Science Fiction Thinking process…