arthur c clarke... dies tommorow

it's funny. for about two weeks now i've been running into (and said) "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," a famous quote from arthur c. clarke and part of clarke's three laws of prediction (a must-click).


he dies at age 90 tommorow. seriously, because it's the 19th in sri lanka, where he is/was. he wrote "2001 : a space odyssey", which we will rip off for our new building, calling it "5001 : an odd space" (it's 5001 penn avenue.)

he also said "religion is a brain disease"... which can be true, but isn't always, so it seems less rigorous than some of his other ideas... anyway aethiests have long been viewed to be just as unquestioning in their beliefs (or "faithful") as believers. both kind of creep me out unless they can consider the alternative, or at least laugh about it. the absence of humor terrifies me most when combined with any strong opinion.