So, this is straight out copy/pasted from my favorite link below, but who it's from is a bit...weird. I've mostly been using it to find a law I want to bring up and googling it to find other sources.
Clarke's First Law:
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.
Corollary (Asimov): When the lay public rallies round an idea that is denounced by distinguished but elderly scientists, and supports that idea with great fervor and emotion -- the distinguished but elderly scientists are then, after all, right.
It should be noted that the 'elderly' scientist is someone in the range of 30-50, because Clarke believed that any scientist past the age of 50 is useful only in board meetings and should be kept out of labs.
Personally, I'll just say it as a fact of life. If someone knows what they're talking about and says it's possible, probably right. If they say something is impossible, that's probably wrong because anything is possible.
I think I'm going to leave it at that and come back with the second law tomorrow, because he's fun.
Sources:
My favorite place to look through these laws, which is a compilation from several places
Statistical Modelling--Columbia University-- Clarke's Laws
Twitter-- Physics in History-- Clarke's Three Laws
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