>> On the other hand, I found reading it as a child in the 80s a great disappointment. At the time I was learning about chaos theory and the butterfly effect. I

>> On the other hand, I found reading it as a child in the 80s a great disappointment. At the time I was learning about chaos theory and the butterfly effect. It was painfully obvious to me that the Seldon theory of psychohistory was impossibly simplistic. Human society and culture is just too unstable and susceptible to disruption for long term predictions of the kind the plot relies on to be viable. I would disagree on that one. Of course, it would be impossible to predict particular events - like Harry Seldon does in the book - but I find it completely possible to foresee general trend in the future. For example, Immanuel Kant predicted the rise of an European Union back in the 18th century [0]. For example, I'd take the prediction that at some point in the future, technology will be so advanced to make travelling across the Earth or remote working completely seamless and costless, so people will have the ability to access to the same kind of jobs or activities wherever they are based, resulting in an homogenisation of the whole planet. You could argue that this trend started already when travelling in plane and internet were made affordable to most. But yeah, the potentiality of prediction in the book are completely exaggerated, with Seldon being able to time the major events. On the other hand, it my be realistic if he can set up a secret group of telepathic people to influence the future and prevent anything to disturb his visions. [0] http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2012/07/11/european-integration-kant-philosophical-triangle/ http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2012/07/11/european-integr...