Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c240IR // #c240Synthesis

“Though I fixed the power elements at the cold end of the system, I never really saw them; they were completely hidden in anticorrosive paint.”

— In our words · Source: The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (Arthur C. Clarke)

[Use when]

Use when: critical infrastructure is designed to be invisible even to its operator.

[Why it matters]

Critical systems designed for invisibility — the operator maintains what they can never inspect.

More from The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke

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