Magical Thinking

Arthur C. Clarke defined magic as "Any sufficiently advanced technology." The technologies of the Quantum Age are without a doubt magical, for they far surpass any known technology to a degree that causes considerable confusion. It is easy to incorporate technology which has been based upon existing means. The 21st century has seen many such advancements, from steam engines to bullet trains. We see existing technologies give rise to novel engineering techniques and new inventions, this is the pattern we have been following since the early stages of the industrial revolution. Humanity has ventured into the realm of the unknown on occasion, atomic power and weaponry are two such examples. We have also experimented with anti-gravity, scalar wave technology, infrasonic technology, zero-point or free-energy devices, as well as technology gleaned from the works of Nikola Tesla and his associates. These new areas of research will one day form the backbone of the post-modern world, known as the Quantum Age. I do not expect the changes to come over-night, Rome was not built in a day. I do however expect to see certain advancements revolutoinize our world to astounding degrees within a much shorter time frame than would be reasonable to expect (when compared to our history of technological advancement.) This new world, this new way of life will bring with it strange logic and even stranger experiences. If the technological change is even a tenth of the magnitude predicted (see Ray Kurzweil's "The Singularity is Near") than we can expect to see a tenfold difference within a period of a decade. The furthest end of the spectrum indicates a thousand fold difference within a single decade - basically "cavemen to spacemen." Any variation of this increase will cause tremendous friction and stress, as two worlds collide and attitudes shift at dizzying paces, desperate to catch up to the new world.
Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) was an amazing writer and a brilliant scientist, he will forever be missed.