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About this quote

What does it mean?
Highly advanced tech is so complex it resembles meaningless jargon to ordinary observers.
In plain terms
Very advanced tech looks like jargon to most people.
What can you take from it?
Complexity can mask true advancement.

Where it applies

  • tech support
  • sales
  • public policy

Putting it to work

  • splain explanations
  • avoid jargon

Questions to consider

  • When have you been sold jargon as innovation?
  • How do you spot real value?

Another view

Not all jargon means advanced tech; sometimes it is just bad design.

More from Arthur C. Clarke

  1. Clarke's Third Law doesn't work in reverse. Given that 'any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,' it does not follow that 'any mag…

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  2. Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.

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  3. When an official declares something false, chances are that it is. When he or she says it is absolutely false, chances are it is true. ... The overemphasis sti…

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