How to make clear that a thing is technology, not magic?

Question

In a toy world I am writing in, most of the stuff is fairly hard science fiction—I handwaved a warp drive with reasonable physics and basically nothing else, sticking entirely to technologies that we either already have or we know could work. However this is also set reasonably distant in the future, and there are a few particular individuals (at the top of society) who are able to wield existing technologies so well that it seems almost like magic.

This is sort of an instance of Clarketech, and in-Universe these people use the “magic” appearance of their usage of tech to their advantage to become revered as gods, despite being very much mortal and despite not actually wielding any real magic—all their technology still requires power, maintenance, coolant, etc. and otherwise works on ordinary physical principles, it is just very very very high end and they are extraordinarily good at using it.

How do I make clear to the readers that I’m not just introducing magic into the world when that is not something I am intending to do? Specifically regarding the description of these technologies: how do I deal with them (e.g. what diction to describe them, what details to focus on, what relevant scenes like maintenance etc. to include) to make sure that it does not appear like magic to the reader who is viewing the “magic” from out-of-Universe?

Answer 1

You already have the answer in your question: Simply provide both perspectives – that of the knowledgeable, seemingly godlike elite, who understand and use the technology, and that of the ignorant commoners, who think what they witness is magic. For example:

John struck the match along the matchbox, lighting it. The primitive stone age men that surrounded his time machine stepped back in awe and fear. "Magic," he heard them murmur.

If for some foolish reason you have convinced yourself that you must narrate your story from the limited viewpoint of one of your uneducated commoners instead of employing the omniscient viewpoint that narrators have successfully used since time immemorial, you have a few options:

Let the commoner see something he doesn't understand but the reader does. E.g.:

The magician struck a piece of wood with what looked like blood at its tip along his magic box, lighting it.

Let the commoner come to understand the technology later in the story, providing a turn of interpretation for the reader as well.

Let the magic wielder provide an explanation that the commoner does not understand but the reader will, e.g.:

"That's not magic, you fool, that is just antimony trisulfide."

The primitive warrior made a defensive gesture at what he thought was a curse.

As for "what diction to describe them" etc., please don't ask us what to write. Those details you will have to come up with on your own according to your style and intent.

Answer 2

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!

That is, ultimately, the difference between Magic and Technology from a literary sense.

Take for example The One Power in the Wheel of Time series - it comprises various elements, only people with natural talent can use it, it differs from person to person, the results are not always predictable etc.

Even though Robert Jordan was pretty detailed in it as far as a Magic System goes, it is still Magic.

Now compare to Star Trek - The Teleporters - they always work... except when they don't, it is because of an unknown variable has influenced them. Once that variable is identified and isolated, they work perfectly again.

Star Trek allows the viewer to peak behind the curtain in enough ways that it lets us know that it is not magic but technology. They even have an episode where they show to a primative people that they are not gods, just with better technology.

That all said, I am going to go on a mini-tangent about one of my favouriter universes: Warhammer 40K - whereby you have both Technology and magic combined (Machines have a Machine spirit, that must be appeased) - which produces hilarious results - especially for the Orks (The Red ones go faster!)

Answer 3

Magical forces are subjective: Gods love and hate things, people or actions. Magical items have ethical implications and connections.

Technology is purely objective. A car stops working because something is broken, not because the driver is morally impure.

So a pragmatic, non-spiritual approach from the wielder of a power signals "technology" (if the driver tells off a bystander who is offering a sacrifice and lifts the hood instead, that's technology).

Any moral/ethical implications mark "magical". If the weapons turns against its wielder because of ethical choices, that's definitely magic. If the spell requires faith that's magic not programming.

Also: Precise thinking signals "technology" (subjectivity makes long, precise logical chains impossible). If the guy is staring at a broken machine for hours before he figures out how to fix it, that's technology.

So does mass production. Thousands of identical weapons with replaceable parts are definitely "technology". Subjective means variable.

Answer 4

Introduce the technologies early, but in lesser form.

There's the money aspect (more buys better technology). Sure SD cards are abundant and 10 bucks will get you a terabyte. But if you get the to the frontier of development, you get a pentabyte SD card. Same size, double speed, thousandfold capacity. But will cost you 1,000,000. Same for the CPU, etc...

Then there's the skill aspect. Maybe they're just really good at training an AI. Another character could have a school/university project where he struggles to produce good results. Maybe they achieve 74% accuracy in the given problem. The teacher could state that the theoretical maximum is 99 (or whatever number) and that whoever achieves it surely deserves the McCarth price.

Or they just have had really good training / are really talented. For example, compare pro e-sports players to high-skilled amateurs. The skill gap is insane and may seem like cheating (i.e. magic).

If the reader is already familiar with the essence of that technology, on a lesser level, it feels more believable to do the jump, and even impressive, when they can witness what a dedicated person can do.