What If Psychohistory Was Real?

In Isaac Aasimov’s Foundation series, there’s a field of study called psychohistory.

A mathematician uses history to predict the future.

Psychohistorians want a stable empire, but civilization collapses, so they use the predictions gleaned from psychohistory to guide humanity.

We have something that sounds even more like sci-fi: cliodynamics.

Peter Turchin, its greatest promoter, did get a loud prediction wrong in 2020. But that doesn’t mean this idea doesn’t have legs.

I find their data incredibly useful for considering humanity as a whole.

You could totally make a 4X strategy game out of this data!