The example I tend to use for this question is as follows.

In your pocket is a small flat box.
It can be used to talk to other similar boxes. It can display almost any information on request. You can ask it, for example, who the most beautiful person in the world is.
There's a reasonable chance this box is sealed. You've been told approximately what's inside but it's too valuable as an intact unit to actually look.
Would it make any difference if the box contained a trained demon? The traditional statement is that Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, can you actually, on the surface, tell the difference? One could also say, "sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology".

The only reason you say it's not magic is that we've been taught to believe that magic doesn't exist. First you have to define magic, the simple definition is "something we don't understand". We now seek a scientific or technological answer to the question, but your mobile phone, in its sealed case, is indistinguishable from magic.

The example I tend to use for this question is as follows.

In your pocket is a small flat box.
It can be used to talk to other similar boxes. It can display almost any information on request. You can ask it, for example, who the most beautiful person in the world is.
There's a reasonable chance this box is sealed. You've been told approximately what's inside but it's too valuable as an intact unit to actually look.
Would it make any difference if the box contained a trained demon? The traditional statement is that Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, can you actually, on the surface, tell the difference? One could also say, "sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology", or possibly Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!

The only reason you say it's not magic is that we've been taught to believe that magic doesn't exist. First you have to define magic, the simple definition is "something we don't understand". We now seek a scientific or technological answer to the question, but your mobile phone, in its sealed case, is indistinguishable from magic.

The example I tend to use for this question is as follows.

In your pocket is a small flat box.
It can be used to talk to other similar boxes. It can display almost any information on request. You can ask it, for example, who the most beautiful person in the world is.
There's a reasonable chance this box is sealed. You've been told approximately what's inside but it's too valuable as an intact unit to actually look.
Would it make any difference if the box contained a trained demon? The traditional statement is that Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, can you actually, on the surface, tell the difference? One could also say, "sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology".

The only reason you say it's not magic is that we've been taught to believe that magic doesn't exist. First you have to define magic, the simple definition is "something we don't understand", we now seek a scientific or technological answer to the question, but your mobile phone, in its sealed case, is indistinguishable from magic.

The example I tend to use for this question is as follows.

In your pocket is a small flat box.
It can be used to talk to other similar boxes. It can display almost any information on request. You can ask it, for example, who the most beautiful person in the world is.
There's a reasonable chance this box is sealed. You've been told approximately what's inside but it's too valuable as an intact unit to actually look.
Would it make any difference if the box contained a trained demon? The traditional statement is that Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, can you actually, on the surface, tell the difference? One could also say, "sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology".

The only reason you say it's not magic is that we've been taught to believe that magic doesn't exist. First you have to define magic, the simple definition is "something we don't understand". We now seek a scientific or technological answer to the question, but your mobile phone, in its sealed case, is indistinguishable from magic.