Isaac Asimov - Foundation & Empire - Extra Sci Fi - Part 3

[@extrahistory]

Hey all, Matt here! Sorry about my “prescience” flub in the above episode. I think saying “Science” so many times has truly seeped into my brain in. Maybe to make things right, I should start a college level course on the brand new field of “Pre-Science.” What do you all think the course description should be? ;)

[@stormydragon2668]

There is no course description. Anyone ready to take the course should be able to figure out what's in it without one being provided.

[@FlyingDominion]

Perhaps something focusing on the hypothesis portion of the scientific method. Upon completion of this course, you will be able to formulate a logical hypothesis from limited data, use hypotheses properly in the scientific method, and identify problems with unacceptable data asked deal with that data. This course has a large focus on critical thinking and problem solving.

[@mileskay7566]

Extra Credits I think there is no need to apologize considering that pronunciation is seemingly the original, and less-corrupted version. I think it's unreasonable for people to demand you "mispronounce" the word for the sake of conformity.

[@LordBloodySoul]

Omg! I have The Encyclopidist standing in my mother's bookshelf. I saw it many times over, but I never got hooked on reading it. Now!! Now I am definitly going to read it!! :D

[@urulai]

As long as you fixed it. :v

[@ewok40k]

still source of some of best thoughts in the history: "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." "An atom-blaster is a good weapon, but it can point both ways." "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right!"

[@mileskay7566]

ewok40k Your sense of morals and your understanding of right and wrong are one and the same. Was he trying to say "Don't let your understanding of right and wrong become stagnant and resistant"? If we don't trust our personal moral compass, for the sake of someone else's, then logically no one should trust anyone and all progress in understanding morality collapses like a house of cards.

[@ewok40k]

he was trying to tell that in politics, sometimes right thing is not moral in common sense... nuking enemy city may be a terrible thing to do, but if it ends war and saves millions more?

[@mileskay7566]

ewok40k I now understand what he was saying, but it's worth pointing out that historians don't believe nuking Japan contributed much at all to ending the war. The death total from both nukes was tiny compared to the blitzkreig traditional bombing that was ongoing right beforehand (which showed no sign of slowing down) and in response, Japan was in the process of surrendering before the nukes fell. Japan, at the time, made a would-be fatal mistake of dismissing the ungodly power of nukes partially because they didn't fully understand that nukes had an after effect.

[@andrewsuryali8540]

A bit of historical context here. When the Showa Emperor (Hirohito) passed away and the Heisei Emperor (Akihito) ascended, the latter opened his father's correspondence archives to historical researchers vetted by the Imperial Household Agency. It took many years since then (over two decades, in fact) for the contents to come out, but we now know that in 1945 the Showa Emperor was warned several times to reject his own cabinet's advisory to surrender by a clique of young officers in the IJA representing close to 80% of the officer corps still in Japan. Contrary to the leadership (who were doing the indoctrination), the heavily indoctrinated younger officers actually believed in that death before dishonor BS. The situation was at such a boiling point in July of 1945 that, had the bombs never been dropped, a coup would have happened by end of August and an invasion would have been necessary. After the war, the new Japanese regime under US occupation fabricated the story that they were about to surrender anyway to back up their newly-discovered pacifist credentials. It also helped them sell to the Japanese public the idea of Japan being a "victim" in WW2. This is the version of the story the Japanese and international public believed for many years until the Imperial Household Agency allowed the truth to come out to counter ultranationalists. They were forced to do this because ultras had been propagating anti-US mentality in the late-1990s by saying that America ruthlessly dropped the bombs knowing full well that Japan was going to surrender anyway. Actually, if you go to Japan and stay at an APA hotel, they provide you with an English version of their revisionist history publication in the room and you can read for yourself this interesting take on WW2 history.

[@myself2noone]

@@mileskay7566 I think he just means what Steven Pinker means when he says "The world has too much morality." That people just use there moral sense, and don't actually think about there actions.

[@merrittanimation7721]

It's all fun and games until a telepathic mutant comes in and messes everything up.

[@lukesalazar9283]

Merritt Animation mules are never welcomed

[@weldonwin]

And lets not get into the time its revealed that a 50'000 year old android detective has been pulling the strings behind the scenes

[@SockPuppet80]

Yyyeah... introducing R. Daneel Olivaw was a shark-jumping moment, if I'm being honest. But it's been a wild ride overall.

[@atracin]

Magnus did nothing wrong

[@onemadscientist7305]

SockPuppet80 Yeah, I don't know if we can call it a Deus Ex Machina or not. I mean, there were hints that *someone* was controlling everything, and it kind of makes sense that it would be Daneel somehow (and it's super cool to find out that he was actually alive the entire time), but still, it's a bit... odd. I still don't know how I should feel about it.

[@thewiirocks]

It's worth noting that Asimov tapped into a real argument on the theory of history. All the schools were trying to teach "Great Man" theory because it was easy. But all the historians were arguing that "great men" were made by history, not the other way around. Asimov brought the opposing ideas of how history worked to life. Ideas that today, with the rise of Twitter and other forms of mass communication, we now know to be true. The zietgeist is a thing and we can literally watch ideas come and go in the public consciousness. We're not there yet, but a mathematically framework for computing the future in broad stokes - i.e. "Psycho History" - is within our grasp. Which is scary, insane, amazingly cool, and awe inspiring all at the same time.

[@Josep_Hernandez_Lujan]

Scary part is we'll never be allowed to know if they do.

[@TheTrueAdept]

Few people give Asimov his dues despite how much of an impact that he had on SciFi, how he gave many of the concepts that SciFi takes for granted like planet-cities (Corusant is Trantor with the serial numbers filed off and doesn't concern itself with the shear LOGISTICS such a planet would have... Asimov REALLY went into the logistics of it all and helped codified what would become 'Hard' scifi), proper AI, devices that eliminated nuclear ordinance completely or turn them into Azidoazide Azide-grade unstable, among other things. Most of the fame and glory goes to Heinlein and Clarke with very few going to Asimov. Asimov is also dear to me because, without his Foundation Trilogy, I would ignore fiction altogether. It was reading my mother's copy of the Foundation Trilogy that opened the doors to scifi and later fiction in general. Allowed me to simply enjoy the works from David Drake to Tom Clancy to Heinlein to... well you get the picture.

[@deanspanos8210]

I Always wondered if a Trantor like planet could be constructed.

[@lettuceprime4922]

I'm not sure why you say Heinlein gets more love than Heinlein. I'd almost say the opposite is true.

[@DrewLSsix]

Lettuce Prime. Yeah, Heinlein is mostly known for the controversy surrounding two of his books and I always felt didnt get the recognition HE deserved. Asimov on the other hand is one of the scifi names easily known beyond scifi literature fans. And I also dont know that he was a particularly hard scifi writer, he was prone to exmachina type elements and a lot of what he inserts in a story to drive the plot is very soft scifi at best.

[@SimplyDudeFace]

Asimov fit into that same groove for me. I picked up a copy of Foundation at the library because I knew my father has a copy and I wouldn’t have to check it out. I have been lost to the genera ever since. Heinlein has his day in the 60’s with Stranger in a Strange Land. Asimov had a big resurgence in the decade leading up to is death with Foundations Edge and Foundation and earth. This may be the reason people think Asimov is remembered more.

[@nathanclay821]

Now I can't fully agree. As a life-long reader of science fiction, Asimov was, while not my gateway drug, (thanks. E.E. "Doc" Smith!) he is the man who, no pun intended, laid the foundation for my love of the genre. While Heinlein was the philosopher, who made you think about how the world and people were, and how it would turn; and Clarke was the futurist who could make you marvel at the things humanity could (and would) develop; it was Asimov's worlds of possibility that, for me, always laid out the idea of "what if" and how our great solutions (ie the 3 laws of robotics) were often more a reflection of our own myopic view of the world than a true building block of the grand future which may await us as a whole.

[@sanguiniusonvacation1803]

The adeptus mechanicus ( the guy in the red robes in the thumbnail is a priest of this order ) is a good example of a empire and loss of knowledge . They are from a time where the golden age of tech is long lost , and they loose more each day , even as they worship that knowledge and its machines

[@abyssalknight4081]

Is that a techpriest in the thumbnail?

[@wanderingursa8184]

Indeed it is! And a techpriest in the video too!

[@malachimccann4612]

The techpriest was one of one of the main reasons why i clicked on the video

[@barrybend7189]

Sorry but my mortar head will beat any of the imperiums titans any day.

[@litz4339]

May we recieve the toaster that was prommised now?

[@abyssalknight4081]

TheBlizzard toaster machine broke

[@CynicalHistorian]

Foundations. My favorite SciFi series. And it stars historians!

[@RothurThePaladin]

Man, I cant wait for you guys to talk about Dune.

[@extrahistory]

What if we took all those medieval romances and those legends of the last days of Rome, but gave them technology beyond our wildest dreams? That's what Asimov's Foundation series is based on.

[@michaellewis1545]

I could only get through the first book of the Foundation series.

[@dugrik]

Prescience is pronounced pre'she-ens, not pre-science.

[@rubilax1806]

I might be wrong but it that a techpriest in the thumbnail or has the Omnissiah fried my optical circuits

[@mighty_mag]

"What if we took all those medieval romances and those legends of the last days of Rome, but gave them technology beyond our wildest dreams?" Warhammer 40k... that's what we get! Oh, and heresy! Lots and lots of heresy!

[@calvinhayman7597]

Will you guys do warhammer? It’s ability to mix both science and technology with magic and religious nepotism is worth talking about.

[@LordKarandras]

Tech-priest!? Are you addressing Warhammer 40k? I would love to see that!

[@triggerboomer3353]

Kreig approves

[@rubilax1806]

Praise the Omnissiah

[@brettdibble2763]

the codex astartes approves of this

[@geoffgreen2105]

Far-future space empire? The quest for lost technical knowledge? Purpose-built religions to explain super-science? Sounds like Warhammer 40k owes a lot more to Foundation than most of its fans realize!

[@jamestang1227]

THE EMPEROR APPROVES

[@shawnheatherly]

I love that one of the most important, most influential sci fi novels came from someone basically tacking IN SPACE to an existing idea.

[@sanguiniusonvacation1803]

Ask not why we worship the toasters in the dust of long dead kings , but why the toaster is worshipped.

[@Nitro_0999]

Sanginius on vacation isn't that just the same question

[@harleymills8862]

praise the Toasters

[@sanguiniusonvacation1803]

Rasmus Krogh-Jensen the question is , between why do we worship the technology without understanding it , and why we need to understand it to worship it .

[@marrs1013]

Sanginius on vacation It depends on who owns the technology and what is their goal with it. Once we understand it we would be unable to worship it. So the owners might actualy want us not to understand it for complete dependency and unquestionable control.

[@Prich319]

Sanginius on vacation I'd ask why they are slapping the toaster with their cyberdongs.

[@alexanderchon9058]

Adeptus Mechanicus anyone?

[@bc9402]

Alexander Chon Praise the Omnissiah!

[@rubilax1806]

10111101010011100010111000011011101100001100011000111110010101 Translation for the non blessed: Praise the Omnissiah for He gives us motion to crush the heretech

[@thecobracommander169]

PRAISE THE OMNISSIAH

[@irvinnazifizak3467]

Sad they still didn't get their Toasters

[@PoPFopskyX3]

i cant unsee that now

[@manlystranger4973]

Great video! One of the most interesting things about the Foundation series which Asimov himself pointed out is that nothing happens throughout the novels in terms of action, almost everything is description and conversation, yet they are highly entertaining. I think a great future topic would be the way both Asimov and Heinlein, in a manner very similar to Tolkien, created entire future mythologies/histories in which to place their stories. The difference is Tolkien did it very deliberately, but for Heinlein and Asimov, it seems to be a completely organic growth which they both in later life attempted to shape in the way a gardener might train a rose bush.

[@yiffytimes]

I learned about Foundation through the radio series which any fan should seek out and listen too. Foundation has actually changed the way I actually look at the world and as the years past. Issac Asimov was so right.

[@matthewryan7775]

Just one panel of 40k content and it's already my favorite series you guys have done

[@KingOfMadCows]

I wonder if Asimov knew that Foundation would become the foundation for so many other sci-fi franchises that followed.

[@danielsjohnson]

I'm glad he didn't know, because if he did he might have made some changes that he otherwise would not.

[@temiajuwon8893]

KingOfMadCows He could've been that ambitious

[@andrewsuryali8540]

Dude, he passed away in 1992. He lived through the births of all those sci-fi worlds birthed on the ideas of Foundation. He definitely knew what he spawned.

[@Freelancer4tehwin]

I get that you can't do every episode on Asimov, but almost criminal not to touch on his robot novels (as opposed to his robot short stories) which more directly address the fear of technology, the ignorance of technology, and the dangers of abandoning our essential humanity.

[@ryangardner8873]

exactly! the caves of steel series is so relevant in todays societies. I look at us as a species and see the steps that lead us on the road to the spacers in naked sun, and that;s kinda scary.

[@FlyingDominion]

This video made me want to read a long (I assume based on visuals) series of books more than my English classes made me want to read anything longer than a poem. It did this by telling me why the series is important and how it influenced the genre, which college English professors would do well to learn.

[@bobcarn]

I just read the Foundation series a few weeks ago. I had read I, Robot, and then Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, and The Robots of Dawn, absolutely loving them! I read the Caliban series based on Asimov's premises (and endorsed by him), and then just recently read the Foundation trilogy. Of course after reading those, and loving them, I had to go back and work through the Galactic Empire series. I'm now to the point where I can read the two prequels to Foundation. It's so impressive that he took these different series and then tied them all together into a whole shared universe with as much unity as there was. I've been loving them!

[@TealWolf26]

Foundation was the foundation of all my personal politics, ethics, philosophy and world view before I even knew it existed lol. I only just recently became aware of it (year or two ago) and am only beginning to grasp how much this series was written for me.

[@bc9402]

Who else here clicked cause they saw the tech priest in the thumbnail?

[@michaellewis1545]

Brayan Chavez me

[@AROBASPARK]

Yo!

[@brettdibble2763]

me!...sorta. omnissaiah for give me

[@rodigoduterte9192]

Brayan Chavez tech priest is the best religious preacher ever

[@thecobracommander169]

The Omnissiah will be rid us of the heretech

[@sharkdentures3247]

Star Wars is far and away forever my favorite (movie) Sci-Fi universe. But Foundation will ALWAYS be my favorite Sci-Fi books! (and I cant really argue with your implication that if there had been no Foundation Series, there would have been no Star Wars) Thank you Isaac Asimov. R.I.P.

[@TrueScottsmen]

I saw a techpriest in the image and I clicked without looking at the title

[@abdur1996]

Funny thing.I'm in the programming stream in college and we were recently discussing Internet of Things (IoT) and one of the things we went over was Asimov's 3 laws in regards to automation.

[@danielsjohnson]

abdur1996 did you talk about how the 3 laws eventually turn our own machines on us despite the good intentions contained in the laws?

[@cpmf2112]

If you read the intro to Foundation written by Isaac Asimov, he describes walking in with not much more than an idea, and he gives enormous credit to John Campbell, the editor of Astounding, for fleshing out much of the basis of the storyline during that meeting. Fascinating read.

[@themettking]

I’m actually going through Foundation right now, and I noticed this video got posted just after I got to the introduction of the Priesthood. It must be a sign from the Omnissiah!

[@nowhereman6019]

*PRAISE THE OMNISSIAH*

[@merrittanimation7721]

*Galactic Spirit

[@sharilshahed6106]

sounds almost like OMNISLASH

[@Aikuchi]

Some of the earliest Sci fi books I read when I was in grade school was the foundation series and dune. Fond memories!

[@cegie]

Foundation is a hella good series in it's own right as well. Got it as a gift from my grandmother way back when I was around 14-15 or so "Because I read read a lot of scifi & fantasy and this is a classic and must read for people like you". I thought my grandma's sense of fiction was dry as all hell so it lay on my shelf for years before trying it but it really is a fantastic series well worth the read for anyone into the genre and I regret I didn't pick it up sooner.

[@jerrycampbell9376]

Started the Foundation trilogy one morning, back in High School. Got so caught up in it that I read it straight through, finishing around 0600 the next day. Good stuff, it was!

[@NovaXXX7]

The machine spirits approve. Praise the Omnissiah. Love this series. Though I confess I really hope you guys take a look at 40k at some.point. How it takes alot of these concepts, refines them, and makes them GrimDark.

[@lothrazar]

So stoked for heinlein

[@Javaman92]

I have been a huge fan of Asimov for 50 years now. I read probably all his sci-fi works and still after all these years own the boxed set of the Foundation series. Somehow that escaped the flood of a dozen years ago. I didn't recall it beating out the LOTR series but wow, that is something.

[@markschippel7974]

I got my start reading with H. G. Wells and Asimov. The Foundation series can be a dry read but, with all of its warts, it is an amazing, thought provoking story. I especially love how his last Foundation story tied all of his previous robot stories into one timeline.

[@maxharo7125]

Great content Extra Credits. Your channel made me appreciate sci-fi. As a result I began reading the Foundation Trilogy; just finished reading Foundation and Empire and I'm about to jump in Second Foundation. And after I'm done with the Foundation Trilogy I don't know what sci-fi series to read next but I'm sure I'll find it by watching more Extra credits videos. Keep up the good work!

[@abj136]

Don't skip Foundation's Edge. It's a much later work and some of his best writing!

[@maxharo7125]

Thank you for the recommendation. I might read it after I finished the sprawl trilogy.

[@Shesae]

I have just read the Foundation, and this video was very helpful in providing some context to the book. Thank you!

[@Dariushellstrome]

I bought the last book at a garage sale way back and decided to read the series in reverse order just to amuse myself, so I was going off the list printed in Foundation and Earth, no internet back then

[@JulioCesar-os4us]

it's rather curious for me to hear you guys saying that Asimov's language was outdated, or even difficult. Apparently here in Brazil we did a great job translating the foundation Series, because I remember a very quick and direct language while reading. Luck for me, I think (:

[@lunar_trooper]

Foundation is my favorite sci-fi story. It radically changed the way I look at ides regarding politics, space exploration, and the future. The Mule my personal favorite sci-fi villain. The little world building ideas too, like how it's s far into the future that people aren't sure which planet was the human homeworld, so archaeologists are writing papers about what planet it could be. Or that fact that, because it takes place over such a long time, by the end of the trilogy, characters from the first book are referenced how we reference figures like George Washington today. The Second Foundation is the coolest thing ever.

[@CristopherCutas]

I saw the authors and books you guys made a series of, so I instantly picked up. So now I got War of the worlds, Shape of things to come, the foundation and Frankenstein. This is quite a challenge since I dont read books. I guess i will have to now.

[@wingracer1614]

You got some reading to do. We still have the likes of Dune and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress to come.

[@agsilver2009]

TIL that the Brother of Steel are tech priest (in a way).

[@barrybend7189]

Angel Gamboa only they know how to not only fix but also make new stuff as well.

[@StarstormHUN]

Which makes them not-techpriests

[@StarstormHUN]

Because to create something new you have to understand it

[@talltroll7092]

The BoS are fundamentally tech-priests, but an advanced form. Their primary mission is still to collect and preserve old tech, and not every member is tech savvy enough to do more than basic maintenance tasks. As a whole they understand the tech they have, and a few even innovate and develop new tech, but they never really achieved the total dominance of the North American continent that a true technological power would have been able to.

[@sirllamaiii9708]

The BOS are more akin to space Marines, with power armor and only knowing basics of maintenance. Scribes are more of tech priests, with logging knowledge and coming up with new ideas.

[@KnightofRome01]

I am so excited for Robert Heinlein next week. I would like to know more, about the man behind one of my favorite novels.

[@zvimur]

KnightofRome01 Troopers, Lazarus & co, or Stranger? Co includes th Stones.

[@euansmith3699]

Podkayne of Mars?

[@KnightofRome01]

Zvi mur Troopers is at the top of list, but the others are good too.

[@andrewwrobel2786]

The juxtaposed past future art in this episode was awesome.

[@Timberwolf581]

I read the Foundation series and loved it. As for Psychohistory, the fact that we can measure and somewhat predict the movements of large groups of people, such as commuters, only strengthens my idea that with large enough populations and enough information, it *might* be possible.

[@MrSirwolf2001]

I have read the entire unabridged Foundation series several times. The Story is brilliant. I have never cared for Asimov's writing style, but I cannot deny the sheer brilliance of the story itself.

[@Tomasz0216]

I actually finished the first book of the foundation and gasped at certain parts of the book during my flight! Great series guys!

[@LordRael013]

This makes me want to try and pick up a copy of the Foundation stuff. Looks like I have objectives the next time I go book shopping!

[@zvimur]

Lord Rael Scion If you do, read them in publication order. In late years, Asimov went heavy into prequels, even crossing over.... RDO).

[@zigzagduck952]

Zvi mur RDO) ?

[@zvimur]

zigzag duck A 30 year old spoiler at your risk: Robot Daniel Olivaw = Harry Seldon's mentor!!

[@trashf1re]

zigzag duck I assume he's talking about the SPOILER Crossover between his 'Robots' universe (Susan Calvin, positronic brains, 3 laws n' all that) and the Foundation universe. Basically, everyone forgot that Robots existed for tens of thousands of years, and they've been gently helping Humanity along the whole time. Hari Seldon, for example, was inspired by a disguised robot.

[@zvimur]

Jimmy McRustler Outside the movie, is Susan Kelvin even mentioned in the Elijah Bailey books?

[@asalways1504]

ALL HAIL THE OMNISSIAH!🙏

[@yeetmcscoodle4337]

Praise the Omnissiah! This discovery is truly divine!

[@skunkjulio]

Loving the art in these, particularly the depictions of characters and equipment from scifi

[@playwars3037]

Space Medievalized Romans, that's how you could sum up the Galactic Empire of the Foundation. More seriously, I really love that series, it's probably one of my favorite ones of all time. Plus it's always funny to see a distant future where nuclear fission is considered the best possible energy source and is very advanced, while today we are considering building fusion reactors and most modern Sci-Fi include anti-matter or that kind of thing.

[@pyro42]

oh wow i didn't realize how much influence Asimov had on one of my fav sci fi property, Warhammer 40k

[@onemadscientist7305]

I just LOVE the Foundation cycle. There's just so much stuff going on.

[@ScoutSgtZaku]

Is that a Tech Priest of Mars I see in the thumbnail. Excellent!!! XD

[@D3athW1ng]

One of the best series I have read.

[@gabrieljett9833]

There is a channel I follow from time to time called "Star Wars Reading Club", that's exactly what it sounds like. The have link on some (Maybe all) of there videos to and amazon page listing all the books they recommend. Extra Sci-Fi should have one of these. They're already my reading list, so may as well get behind that all the way.

[@apainintheaas]

I personally really love the way the plot twists are written into the original three novels. There is always a set up making you expect a twist, but the end result nearly always caught me off guard.

[@teroblepuns]

Holy shit, those artworks are gorgeous!!!

[@icecream_philosopher]

The light of science is still LIT AF FAM DAB DAB DAB

[@bobemmerson1580]

A lot of comments semi-seriously suggest doing an episode on 40K, but thinking about it made me realise that it is probably the most canonically fleshed out Sci-fi universe other than Star Wars and Star Trek (ignoring the difference between Sci-fi and Science Fantasy). 40K may rely heavily on being a distillation of many diverse Sci-Fi concepts, but it is at heart the collective public embodiment of grim-dark Sci-fi.

[@thenewdarkmatter]

I waited the whole series for this single video

[@NochSoEinKaddiFan]

I feel very enticed to read the foundation now, thank you for this very valuable input!

[@pimpa1]

Hi, there! Great videos about Asimov and sci-fi in general! I really enjoyed them. Still, I do believe there's more to talk about Asimov than just the Foundation and Robot series: you could talk about Eternity's End and how he handled the problem of time traveling, as well as The Gods Themselves, in which there's a clear critique of the battle of egos within science/academy and how some people overshadow true science in favor of their personal glory and status.

[@snailinashell]

You posted this when I was asleep but I woke up not to long after 😴😴💤

[@Andreych95]

BY THE OMNISSIAH... THIS GOT ME HARDER THAN TERMINATOR ARMOUR

[@tibbar20111987]

PREPARE THE LUBE BROTHERS AND FOR EMPERORS SAKE: DO NOT TELL SLAANESH!!!

[@kaiserwilhelmthesecond4144]

Where are the toasters we requested

[@benbailey3106]

I'm sorry my Kaiser, but the Tommies took them all

[@davehoffman4659]

1:12 is that a History of Paper Money reference I see in the bottom right corner?

[@Ebolson1019]

After watching this I didn’t think much but just now I found my moms copy of the foundation trilogy. Without this video I probably wouldn’t have read it, but now it’s my next book after I finish my current book.

[@Archan2099]

THANK THE GODS YOU GUYS FINALLY MENTIONED GIBBON !!!!!!!!!!

[@youtoober2013]

4:38 Ooh that tech priest looks doooope... I'm going to go paint mine!

[@canaldoxerxes]

Talk about his friendship with Heinlein! :DDD

[@epicgamer-ny4fj]

Every time they mention Hitchiker guide to the universe my want for them to review it increases by 42

[@Rocketboy1313]

I did not realize this was the first Space Empire. That is a crazy revelation. These stories are a chore to get thru, a lot of talking about stuff rather than just doing the stuff.

[@95GuitarMan13]

It's not as dated as this video implies, still a great read today!

[@magicthegatherer6903]

[proforms rite of percussive maintanance]

[@ImrazorZodd]

Great part of a great series. Only one thing I'd change. I wouldn't really say that the characters are flat, more that they are moatly unimportant as individuals. That's why time jumps of a hundred yearsout of nowhere don't destroy the story as they would any other. The individuals of a time do their thing and die and new ones take their place, but humanity itself is the protagonist and it lives on.

[@helloiamchuck]

I have to admit I winced a little every time the narrator pronounced "prescience" as "pre-science" (instead of "presh-ee-ence") and saw "psychohistory" spelled "psycohistory". I did think it was a good introduction to Asimov's Foundation series, and inspired me to learn more.

[@deanspanos8210]

Wonder what courses you need to get a bachelor's in Psycohistory?

[@nicolasinvernizzi6140]

math...so much math.

[@alexanderflorian-prescott311]

Psychohistory is basically chaos theory applied to human society. Note that the animal brain is the most complex known mechanism in the universe, and cracking it will be significantly more difficult than the three-body gravitational problem ;) . The closest equivalent field at this point in time would probably be geopolitics, but geopolitics is focused more on the broad-strokes without a mathematical framework for producing meaningful, testable predictions. There are simply far too many variables! Once again, the mathematics of psychohistory will likely be derived from chaos theory, but it will probably take advanced neural networks to even begin to figure it out.

[@richardsilva5110]

@@alexanderflorian-prescott311 With the development of complexity and network theories... it's the path through i think psychohistory might be born.

[@hasiumcreeper5384]

Once you get to the end of the "History of Scifi" part of the series and start doing deeper dives again, you should public a reading list for those of us who are interested in reading more, but don't want to sift through all the videos for the names of books.

[@PyroX792]

Foundation is on sale at Audible if anyone wants to grab it!

[@jacobp.2753]

while doing the Closed captions i noticed at 2:18 yall misspelled psycho history into psycho history. now i don't know if that was a mistake or something but when i went to goggle to double check it only came back as Psycho

[@wereling]

Some great art this week

[@СашаБицадзе-щ7г]

Hello! Nice episode! Will you eventually talk about Strugatsky brothers?

[@vt31008]

Great video it’s a tragedy that there is no big authors who have grand ideas like this

[@DrewLSsix]

Vt31008. You need to read a bit more.

[@adriennegormley9358]

Vt31008 They're out there. You just have to look for them. A few suggestions, all books/stories (no film tv or games): 1. Although most of his work is from the 50s and 60s, try H. Beam Piper. His Terro-human future history spans millenia, plus he wrote some ripping good yarns. 2. Olaf Stapledon. 3. James H. Schmitz. 4. Frank Herbert, although I got bored with his later works, was great with Dune. 5. I'll even toss Mike Resnick into the pot, although you might consider me biased. There are many more.

[@trashf1re]

Iain M. Banks - Culture series Alistair Reynolds - Revelation Space series Stephen Baxter - Xeelee Sequence Ann Leckie - Imperial Radch Frank Herbert - Dune series Peter F. Hamilton - Commonwealth Saga

[@andrewsuryali8540]

Jimmy McRustler I would say that, other than Herbert and Reynolds, the rest are kind of lacking in the grand ideas department. They build very interesting worlds, especially Culture and Commonwealth, but they lack IDEAS. Worldbuilding is basic in sci-fi, but grand ideas injected into worldbuilding is rare. Banks' Culture is good worldbuilding but there's nothing new there, and he has this annoying habit of thinking that he's writing a critique of white man's burden while unconsciously showing every sign that he's a chauvinistic follower of it. The idea of OCP (Outside Context Problem) is particularly disturbing because it propagates the idea that "primitives" are unable to process new ideas, in contrast to what we actually see in history. Herbert introduced the ideas of ascended morality and the curse of prescience with characters like Leto. He invented a new definition of transhumanism with the mentats and the Kwisatz Haderach, and he expanded on the then-in-vogue idea of drug-enhanced consciousness. Reynolds introduced the radical concept of transhumanist ideology with his Ultras and Demarchists (I find the "spiders" too derived), being one of the first to recognize that transhumanism would allow the evolution, invention, and implementation of political ideologies based on the transhuman state itself. Those are the kinds of grand ideas we need in sci-fi. A lot of today's writers lazily fall back on repackaged Judeo-Christian ideas and that's really annoying. (looking at you, Hyperion...)

[@DieWeltIstSchlecht]

Dont let them trick you. I discovered Asimov's Foundation three years ago, it's still surprisingly easy to read. Though some technical parts seem dated (everything is nuclear powered) the story itself is fascinating. Go read it. And when you're finished, go read the other ten books to see what happens before and after the main story.

[@therealshadow99]

I gotta say, while I've been reading sci of since the early 80's (when I was old enough to read)... I've never read the foundation series. I've read other works by Asimov, and I even own a copy of the first book in the foundation series (At least I think it's the first one), I just have never read the series in general. The little bit I recall having read felt long winded and I found it hard to focus on. An issue I had with Tolkien's Silmarillion as well. The 80's were a very different era to be a fan of reading, with a handful of small bookstores getting shut down by big chains like Waldenbooks which would themselves go on to suffer as electronic media took off. Back then finding all of a series was often impossible. You could ask a big chain to try to get a copy locally for you, but they would charge extra for the effort. For reasons I certainly still can't understand fantasy was always easier to find here and I'd end up reading things like Stranger in a Strange Land and The Number of the Beast by Heinlein before even seeing part of the Foundation series.

[@anotherone5235]

While I don't remember Heinlein falling under that category, the end made me wonder: are you going to do something on contradictions between themes in works and opinions of their Authors (e.g. with Orson Scott Card and the Speaker series)? [I do hope I make some sort of sense this early in the day]

[@rakatika]

I'm currently reading the Dune series. Just finished book 2. I wonder if Frank Herbert will get more than just a few mentions on this show. :)

[@CaterinaDaSilva]

Pleaseee a playlist with asimov related videos

[@romuloromero2268]

What a great video. Thank you

[@sethcaplan859]

I saw Huxley, I assume that means your going to be covering Brave New World at some point.

[@two_owls]

What the heck is pre-science? It's definitely pronounced preSH(ē)əns...

[@lostwizard]

I came to say just that. Pronunciation in the same class as "conscience".

[@liquidweird6055]

I came for the same reason... it took a while to figure out what he was trying to say. Pre science? I'm glad I'm not the only one to notice

[@jrs3739]

To be fair though, that pronounciation doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Same with omniscience.

[@josephnarvaez9507]

Maybe he means PreScience which is different from pseudo science

[@two_owls]

I thought that at first, but that's definitely not what's being referenced when he talks about Foundation's psycho-history (the Second Foundation was basically prescient); and definitely not what he's talking about when you get into Dune, where the spice users gain the ability to see into the future.

[@wezza668]

Great artwork!

[@sorcererberoll4641]

I really need to finish the foundation collection

[@Yahuaa]

4:34 :D I love our AdMech lot. Ave Omnissiah. Glory in 'is name! For only Him on Terra hath given unto us the means to revere Him so.

[@macsnafu]

It will always be the Foundation trilogy to me, because that's what it was when I read it at age 13. The later books in the series came *after* I read the trilogy, and don't fit neatly into the original structure. But yeah, the series had several interesting ideas in it, and I loved it.

[@ryangardner8873]

Man, I'm kinda bummed. I was really hoping you'd hit the Caves of Steel series, it was by FAR my favorite and I think currently most relevant work of Asimov's. I sww us as a species moving very much along the lines towards one meshing with the spacers in Naked Sun.

[@whtjddn3]

Fantastic materials~!