Arthur C. Clarke's Three Laws of Prediction

Arthur C. Clarke was a British writer and wrote three "laws" about predictions. They are as follows:

1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

My summary of the first point is, "the future is possible", "don't discount the future", or perhaps "".

My summary of the second point is, "Don't give up until you try. Then try harder."

My summary of the third point is, "technology is magic."

Source (Wikipedia)

Bonus Quote: "Perhaps it is better to be un-sane and happy, than sane and un-happy." - Arthur C. Clarke

Out of the ~100 more quotes I read by him, here are a few more that stood out:

• Interesting: "One of the biggest roles of science fiction is to prepare people to accept the future without pain and to encourage a flexibility of mind. Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories."
• Enjoyable: Clarke's Law of Revolutionary Ideas: Every revolutionary idea — in science, politics, art, or whatever — seems to evoke three stages of reaction. They may be summed up by the phrases:
  • (1) "It's completely impossible — don't waste my time";
  • (2) "It's possible, but it's not worth doing";
  • (3) "I said it was a good idea all along."
• Sounds Good: "I have great faith in optimism as a guiding principle, if only because it offers us the opportunity of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy."

=]
~ Simply Advanced ~

ps - My own quote is "Don't be stuck in a paradigm. Facts change." =b

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