Clarke's three laws

E106937

aphorism philosophical principle set of aphorisms

Clarke's three laws are a set of aphorisms about science and technology, most famously stating that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

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All labels observed (6)

Label	Occurrences
Clarke's three laws canonical	4
Clarke’s First Law	1
Clarke’s Second Law	1
Clarke’s Third Law	1
First law of Clarke	1
Second law of Clarke	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T900807 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Clarke's three laws
Context triple: [Arthur C. Clarke, knownFor, Clarke's three laws]

A. I, Robot
I, Robot is a seminal science fiction short story collection by Isaac Asimov that explores the ethical and logical implications of advanced robotics and the famous Three Laws of Robotics.
B. Asimov's Chronology of the World
Asimov's Chronology of the World is a comprehensive historical reference book by Isaac Asimov that presents a chronological overview of world history from prehistoric times to the modern era.
C. Die Welträthsel
Die Welträthsel is a late-19th-century philosophical and scientific work by Ernst Haeckel that attempts to explain the fundamental "riddles of the universe" through a monistic, evolutionary worldview.
D. The Naked Sun
The Naked Sun is a science fiction mystery novel by Isaac Asimov featuring detective Elijah Baley investigating a murder on the sparsely populated, robot-dominated planet Solaria.
E. The Caves of Steel
The Caves of Steel is a science fiction detective novel by Isaac Asimov that blends futuristic robotics with a classic murder mystery set in an overpopulated, enclosed megacity.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Clarke's three laws
Target entity description: Clarke's three laws are a set of aphorisms about science and technology, most famously stating that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

A. I, Robot
I, Robot is a seminal science fiction short story collection by Isaac Asimov that explores the ethical and logical implications of advanced robotics and the famous Three Laws of Robotics.
B. Asimov's Chronology of the World
Asimov's Chronology of the World is a comprehensive historical reference book by Isaac Asimov that presents a chronological overview of world history from prehistoric times to the modern era.
C. Die Welträthsel
Die Welträthsel is a late-19th-century philosophical and scientific work by Ernst Haeckel that attempts to explain the fundamental "riddles of the universe" through a monistic, evolutionary worldview.
D. The Naked Sun
The Naked Sun is a science fiction mystery novel by Isaac Asimov featuring detective Elijah Baley investigating a murder on the sparsely populated, robot-dominated planet Solaria.
E. The Caves of Steel
The Caves of Steel is a science fiction detective novel by Isaac Asimov that blends futuristic robotics with a classic murder mystery set in an overpopulated, enclosed megacity.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (40)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	aphorism ⓘ aphorism ⓘ aphorism ⓘ philosophical principle ⓘ set of aphorisms ⓘ
associatedWith	Arthur C. Clarke's essays ⓘ speculative science ⓘ
author	Arthur C. Clarke ⓘ
bestKnownFor	Third law of Clarke ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United Kingdom ⓘ
culturalImpact	frequently cited in discussions of emerging technologies ⓘ referenced in science fiction literature ⓘ referenced in technology journalism ⓘ
field	science and technology ⓘ science fiction ⓘ
hasNotableQuotation	Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. ⓘ The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. ⓘ When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. ⓘ
hasPart	First law of Clarke ⓘ linked to: Clarke's three laws Second law of Clarke ⓘ linked to: Clarke's three laws Third law of Clarke ⓘ
influenced	discussions of science fiction tropes ⓘ philosophy of technology ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
namedAfter	Arthur C. Clarke ⓘ
partOf	Clarke's three laws ⓘ Clarke's three laws ⓘ Clarke's three laws ⓘ
perspective	emphasizes fallibility of expert predictions ⓘ encourages openness to seemingly impossible ideas ⓘ highlights gap between advanced technology and lay understanding ⓘ
statement	Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. ⓘ The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. ⓘ When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. ⓘ
topic	limits of scientific knowledge ⓘ perception of technology ⓘ technological advancement ⓘ
usedIn	popular science writing ⓘ science communication ⓘ technology commentary ⓘ

How these facts were elicited