It's Magic!

I've long been fascinated with science, even if I haven't shown much interest in intense study in the field(s). Being a layman, I'm particularly interested in fields of new study, such as microbiology, astronomy, and Quantum Mechanics. Scientists are breaking grounds in these areas of study that could only have been speculated about some time ago. In my opinion, Scientific discovery is like magic.

Magic, for thousands of years, has been a supernatural power, a fictional or mythical art of special people doing impossible things. But a lot of the things described in old legends are now possible. We can open doors and 'magic tomes' by speaking to them, we can watch moving pictures in our local newspapers, we can create and hold fires in the palms of our hands - we can even fill a room with light just by clapping.

I think I remember those commercials mentioning magic explicitly.

Obviously these things don't strike us as very magical, but as any science-fiction time travel movie will show, they would equate us with witches and wizards in ancient cultures. The reason for this, of course, is because ancient people didn't have the tools and knowledge we have now. We all know the very simple science behind a lighter, but if someone had invented one a thousand years ago, everyone would probably be too busy freaking out and burning the 'witch' to notice the small, concealed lamp-like tool in their palm.

Science is in the process of creating large, metaphoric lighters, which none of us understand or can even fathom until they're actually made. A hundred years ago, who would've understood the concept of a large, global-scale network of information storage and communication devices? Even in the 50s, who imagined their first computers would spawn the internet as we know it today? Nowadays, the internet is commonplace, along with our inter-connected cell phones and gaming systems.

Having a wifi-detecting t-shirt becomes pretty useful, actually.

In twenty years, what'll we have that'll be so ground-breaking, we're only barely beginning to imagine it?

Nobody can say 'magic doesn't exist' because magic is just a series of events that we currently don't understand. Thousands of years ago, the sunrise was attributed to magic, as well as the seasons. Certain substances, once used in magic potions, are now common medicines or drugs, with boring scientific explanations for why your body reacts to them in certain ways.

It was once a common thought that the Rooster caused the sun to rise. I wonder what erroneous "facts" we'll end up disproving.

Arthur C. Clark, an inventor and science-fiction writer who wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey once said "Any sufficiantly advanced technology is indistigishable from magic." I don't believe this is entirely true - it's no longer magic once we understand it, right (Though I'm sure there are still a ton of people who don't understand how cell phones or the internet works)? However, I believe technology can replicate any 'magical' event in ancient legends - just not the way the legend-tellers expected.

Come on; we already have winged snakes that breath fire.

This is why, as a layman, I'm very interested in scientific inquiry. I have little interest in actually pursuing the field myself (My interests lie elsewhere), but I love to follow breaking scientific news. Others may find it boring, and I admit that once all the technical specifics start to be explained I have a rough time keeping up, but I'm fascinated by the endless possibilities modern science is showing us.