(January 2, 2023 at 11:06 am)Jehanne Wrote:(January 2, 2023 at 11:01 am)Angrboda Wrote: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
― Arthur C. Clarke
I would say that Arthur C. Clarke was "not even wrong". For instance, in Chemistry, there are spin-forbidden reactions, which means that these reactions are impossible. It's a pithy quote; futurists love it, but, it's Ignorance on Parade.
I'm always leery when someone says that something is impossible. In this case, there is a conservation law (angular momentum) that is applicable. Whether and when that conservation law is relevant may well depend on a host of other criteria. maybe the angular momentum in the reaction is coupled to that of the system as a whole. allowing the reaction to proceed at a very low level.
In fact, it is frequently the case, especially in quantum systems that reactions are not allowed at one level of approximation and are allowed at a low level at the next,
I'm also reminded that 150 years ago there were two conservation laws: one for energy and one for mass. Now, we know that they can be interconverted and we have a single conservation law. We never know when such a shift will occur because of our investigations.