Intro:
Isaac Asimov’s classic sci-fi novel Foundation tells the story of mathematician Hari Seldon and his creation of psychohistory, a futuristic discipline that combines history, sociology, and math to make predictions about the future of humanity. In a world of big data, powerful computers, and uncertain times ahead, could such an idea be possible today?
Peter Turchin, a Russian-American complexity scientist and Emeritus Professor at the University of Connecticut, is one of the leading figures in a new social science that involves studying vast vats of historical data and statistical patterns to understand – perhaps even predict – the story of human civilizations.