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[poliphilo]

I poke a stylus at a screen- just the one prod- and I've bought a book. More than that- the book is already in my hands. The whole transaction took less than a minute.

And I didn't have to sell my soul to perform this magic- or burn aromatic gums or even say, "abracadabra".

Tell me, then, why I shouldn't believe in spirits- or other invisible and elusive things- when what I've just done- this magical action- conjuring a thing out of thin air- would have seemed utterly fabulous and inexplicable to the world I was born into- a mere 65 years ago.

Comments

[angiereedgarner.livejournal.com]

Yes. It is so fabulous.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

And I've no doubt greater marvels are to come...

[davesmusictank.livejournal.com]

Amazing how technology has moved on.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

And how we take it in our stride.

[faunhaert.livejournal.com]

it is magical

how they get the little elves into such a tiny space
and teach them how to be telepathic is in credible.

is you set of elves doing color too?
mine only do black and white

now if only the politicians would make trump disappear.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

My elves do colour too. They're highly advanced.

[faunhaert.livejournal.com]

that's even more magic
pratchett had 3 with different colored lenses
each painting their own color.
and a 4th for the black
takes cooperation .

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

You and I are the same age. My mother often remarks, as she gets cash at the ATM, how amazed my grandparents would be. "Money from a hole in the wall." I conjecture that your 'magic' would also amaze - and maybe scare! - my grandparents.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's amazing how quickly we adjust to change. We're told there'd be world-wide panic if it were officially announced we're being visited by aliens, but I wonder. I think it would be a nine days wonder- and then we'd settle down into the new "reality".

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

My grandmother has stopped using her iPad now because her eyesight is too bad now. But she used to get her newspaper on the iPad... Imagine that; a woman born in 1923 getting her newspaper digitally, sending emails and sharing pictures with her grandchildren!

It does make me wonder what I'll be up to in 2071 if I reach 93 like her... But my imagination doesn't stretch that far. That's probably for the best; sometimes the future is best seen through a mirror, darkly.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

My mother has drawn the line at computers. They're one advance too many for her. Ailz's mother on the other hand- who is 86- is online all the time.

I sometimes think the world is going too fast for me and then I take a deep breath and tell myself to hang on in there because this is one hell of an exciting time to be alive.

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

My grandmother would never have dared touch a PC - she saw what a mess my grandfather made of it when he tried in the mid-90's, and no explanations about easier modern interfaces would have convinced her, I think.

But she saw all her great-grandchildren using iPads from the age of 2, so that didn't seem so scary when she got one for her 90th birthday. She had 2½ great years with it before her eyes became too weak - her favourite app was one that allowed her to explore historic sites across the globe from her armchair.

To think; 300 years ago the developments of a lifetime would be... Well... Not a lot, really.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yes, we're living in an era of accelerated change.

Remember when computers were huge metal things with flashing lights that took up a whole room?

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

I grew up in the 1980's... We had a computer room at our school, where we could take classes in typewriting and the like. The machines were large, for sure (and bright orange for some strange reason), but they did fit on a desk. And in the late 80's I was teaching myself simple programming - if you can even call it that today - on a Commodore 64 at home, and saving the programmes on cassette tapes.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

Every time I instantly download a book over wireless, I marvel. A book jumping through the air waves!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

And then I think how in the past you could spend weeks- months, even- trying to track a book down.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

The difference between wifi, ebooks, electronic payments etc and ghosts or spirits is that though you don't understand how the book gets from the first draft on the author's computer to your ebook reader, technical geeks could explain every step of the process. However, at the moment we have no scientific explanation for what we call supernatural phenomena. That's not to say there won't ever be one, but until then, it's a case of believe rather than practical demonstration.