Psychohistory in real life Comments Off
In Isaac Asimov’s famous Foundation series an central and intriguing role is played by the so-called science of Psychohistory. Quoting Wikipedia: “Psychohistory is a fictional science in Isaac Asimov’s Foundation universe which combines history, sociology, and mathematical statistics to make (nearly) exact predictions of the collective actions of very large groups of people, such as the Galactic Empire”.
As so many things from science fiction that seem to come to life, lately (see mobile phones, the Internet and tons of other gadgets), psychohistory doesn’t seem to be so far fetched anymore.
I’ve recently finished reading the brilliant Guns, Germs and Steel book by Jared Diamond and the thought that kept circling around my head was: “This is so psychohistory”. And in a sense is, Diamond argues at one point, same as Asimov in his books, that the actions of individuals are lost in the sea of actions by the masses.
If you ever wondered why Eurasia became the center of power on our planet, want to understand what influences the development of societies or you just are a geek that would like to see how psychohistory looks in real life, read Guns, Germs and Steel, it’s a fascinating book.
” * by Carl Honore. The book itself is well written but not a masterpiece. The ideas Carl talks about are most likely not new to you (slow food, slow cities and so on). But it’s still an interesting read and something I would recommend for everybody to take a look at. There are many little things that you can take away from it.