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we think technology is gadgets but it's actually the way you make the gadgets if you can write a spec for it and somebody (with the appropriate background knowledge) can read and reliably reproduce it, it's technology what makes magic magic is you aren't totally sure how it works/it isn't reliable

conputer dipshit@davidcrespo.bsky.social

was talking to my 8yo about what’s sci fi and what’s fantasy articulate the difference between technology and magic in one post. go

to be clear you don't necessarily have to know how a given technology works to *use* it, but you do to *make* it also implementations of technology break all the time so they're not "reliable" in the sense the spec is by contrast you may never be able to know why a magic spell works or doesn't

if a technology works you should be able to say *why* it works; if it's broken you should be able to say why it's broken (and at the very least formulate an idea for what it would take to fix it) magic, i dunno, how is the astral plane or whatever feeling about it at this particular moment

like the way magic is fairly consistently portrayed in works of fiction (at least in my experience) there's always this irreducible nugget of mystery (either the spell isn't guaranteed to work, or the competent spellcaster is a mysterious figure) that (in my opinion) doesn't exist with technology

like the thing about technology is that any old dumbass who can read a manual can wield it (and if you don't understand what the manual says, keep reading until you do); you don't have to have the special innate je-ne-sais-quoi of a literal wizard to make use of technology, that's the whole point

like clarke's quip "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" sure, because in both cases there's a gap between the capabilities demonstrated and your methodological knowledge what makes technology different is that in principle that gap can always (eventually) be closed

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