So I copied a melodramatic passage from a recent essay on futuristic breakthroughs in physics:
A man, confident in air and presence, walks to the center of a lit stage. Hundreds of eager spectators stare blankly at the lone figure, waiting for some miracle of force, some demonstration of magnificence to whisk them away to a realm of wonder and uncertainty. The man talks up the crowd, nonchalantly pacing across the set, his voice thick with charismatic prose; it is quite clear that this man is a master at his craft. Then, a hush… the room goes dark, and the man is bathed in radiant light, the spotlights coalescing into a single intense beam. And behold, for the crowd is staring slack-jawed and applauding as one: the man is floating in midair. Unbeknownst to the people, there are no mirrors on the stage, and when a particularly zealous spectator throws a knife over the performer’s head, he does not fall. In fact, this man is no magician at all; perhaps he is in principle, but this is not as the audience would perceive him. Through physics, many feats portrayed in science fiction have the opportunity to enter the realm of reality, a universe far more fantastic than anything we could ever imagine it to be. For it is through this lens of validity that we may witness incredible phenomena, wondrous manipulations of force that appear as magic to the common eye. As we speak, scientists work to develop new, absurdly advanced technology. But how are these triumphs of human engineering possible, and how can they exist? To answer this, let us turn back to the “magician”, for what he has accomplished is no slight of hand.
Apparently I write like Poe. I somewhat doubt this.