Foundation
The face that launched a thousand woolly research programmes.
The only interesting thing about psychohistory is its contrast with social science. Both are admittedly the exquisite products of a decadent and vastly powerful empire. Both give a pretext to social engineers. But psychohistory works, and it’s interesting to consider why social science doesn’t.
Part of it is the distinction between real science and the cargo cult kind:
As well as the distinction between "scientific" socialism and actual science.
Can you think of a better way to doom a project than to convince its leadership that success is inevitable?
Nice touch: to make his forecast stable, Seldon has to impose a simple structure on his subjects - to predict by forcing the world to become predictable. (“That which is unstable we shall control.”)
One of Asimov’s vices is too closely allying intelligence and virtue. You can always tell a turncoat in this - before he turns - by his being a bit dim. Another is the repetitiveness and cliche of his historical cycles. He has the peripheral worlds turn to literal feudalism (“strange world! You have no peasantry”) before the tech Empire has even properly fallen. Seldon’s categories are well-worn and leave no room for social development and the weird shapes people grow into. The schlock religion which takes over the educated sector in less than 30 years was also pretty dumb.
Clumsy prose, almost entirely free of imagery. Identikit characters, largely smug. Starts weakly, ends abruptly in artless and pulpy fashion. Tune in next week.
The only interesting thing about psychohistory is its contrast with social science. Both are admittedly the exquisite products of a decadent and vastly powerful empire. Both give a pretext to social engineers. But psychohistory works, and it’s interesting to consider why social science doesn’t.
Part of it is the distinction between real science and the cargo cult kind:
“It amounts to a diseased attitude—a conditioned reflex that shunts aside the independence of your minds whenever it is a question of opposing authority. There seems no doubt ever in your minds that the Emperor is more powerful than you are, or Hari Seldon wiser. And that’s wrong, don’t you see? … “It isn’t just you. It’s the whole Galaxy. Pirenne heard Lord Dorwin’s idea of scientific research. Lord Dorwin thought the way to be a good archaeologist was to read all the books on the subject—written by men who were dead for centuries. He thought that the way to solve archaeological puzzles was to weigh the opposing authorities. And Pirenne listened and made no objections”
As well as the distinction between "scientific" socialism and actual science.
Can you think of a better way to doom a project than to convince its leadership that success is inevitable?
Nice touch: to make his forecast stable, Seldon has to impose a simple structure on his subjects - to predict by forcing the world to become predictable. (“That which is unstable we shall control.”)
One of Asimov’s vices is too closely allying intelligence and virtue. You can always tell a turncoat in this - before he turns - by his being a bit dim. Another is the repetitiveness and cliche of his historical cycles. He has the peripheral worlds turn to literal feudalism (“strange world! You have no peasantry”) before the tech Empire has even properly fallen. Seldon’s categories are well-worn and leave no room for social development and the weird shapes people grow into. The schlock religion which takes over the educated sector in less than 30 years was also pretty dumb.
Clumsy prose, almost entirely free of imagery. Identikit characters, largely smug. Starts weakly, ends abruptly in artless and pulpy fashion. Tune in next week.