Hari Seldon is a fictional character in

Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...

's ''Foundation'' series. In his capacity as mathematics professor at Streeling University on the planet

Trantor The Galactic Empire is an interstellar empire featured in Isaac Asimov's ''Robot'', ''Galactic Empire'', and '' Foundation'' series. The Empire is spread across the Milky Way galaxy and consists of almost 25 million planets settled exclusively b ...

, Seldon develops

psychohistory Psychohistory is an amalgam of psychology, history, and related social sciences and the humanities. Its proponents claim to examine the "why" of history, especially the difference between stated intention and actual behavior. Psychobiography, chil ...

, an algorithmic science that allows him to predict the future in probabilistic terms. On the basis of his psychohistory he is able to predict the eventual fall of the

Galactic Empire Galactic empires are a common trope used in science fantasy and science fiction, particularly in works known as 'space operas'. Many authors have either used a galaxy-spanning empire as background or written about the growth and/or decline of s ...

and to develop a means to shorten the millennia of chaos to follow. The significance of his discoveries lies behind his nickname "Raven" Seldon. In the first five books of the ''Foundation'' series, Hari Seldon made only one in-the-flesh appearance, in the first part of the first book (''

Foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

''), although he did appear at other times in pre-recorded messages to reveal a "Seldon Crisis". After writing five books in chronological order, Asimov retroactively added two books to expand on the genesis of psychohistory. The two prequels—''

Prelude to Foundation ''Prelude to Foundation'' is a novel by American writer Isaac Asimov, published in 1988. It is one of two prequels to the ''Foundation'' series. For the first time, Asimov chronicles the fictional life of Hari Seldon, the man who invented psy ...

'' and ''

Forward the Foundation ''Forward the Foundation'' is a novel by American writer Isaac Asimov, published posthumously in 1993. It is the second of two prequels to the ''Foundation'' Series. It is written in a format similar to that of the original book, ''Foundation'', ...

''—describe Seldon's life in considerable detail. He is also the central character of the Second Foundation Trilogy written after Asimov's death (''

Foundation's Fear ''Foundation's Fear'' (1997) is a science fiction novel by American writer Gregory Benford, set in Isaac Asimov's Foundation universe. It is the first book of the Second Foundation trilogy, which was written after Asimov's death by three autho ...

'' by

Gregory Benford Gregory Benford (born January 30, 1941) is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is professor emeritus at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. He is a contributing editor of ''Reas ...

, '' Foundation and Chaos'' by

Greg Bear Gregory Dale Bear (August 20, 1951 – November 19, 2022) was an American writer and illustrator best known for science fiction. His work covered themes of galactic conflict ('' Forge of God'' books), parallel universes ('' The Way'' series), ...

, and '' Foundation's Triumph'' by

David Brin Glen David Brin (born October 6, 1950) is an American scientist and author of science fiction. He has won the Hugo,In Asimov's saga, the Galactic Era begins when the

is founded at an unknown date roughly 11,000 years in the future: The timeline can be deduced from some hints Asimov dropped in his other science fiction works, including the ''Robot'' and ''Empire'' series. He was born on the planet Helicon in the

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sector where his father worked as a tobacco grower in a hydroponics plant. He shows incredible mathematical abilities at a very early age. He also learns

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

on Helicon that later help him on Trantor, the principal art being Heliconian Twisting (a form seemingly equal parts

Jiu Jitsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...

Krav Maga Krav Maga ( ; , ; ) is an Israeli martial art. Developed for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), it is derived from a combination of techniques used in aikido, judo, karate, boxing, and wrestling. It is known for its focus on real-world situation ...

, and

Submission Wrestling Submission wrestling, also known as Submission grappling, Submission fighting a form of competition and a general term for martial arts and combat sports that focus on clinch and ground fighting with the aim of obtaining a submission through the ...

). Helicon is said to be "less notable for its mathematics, and more for its martial arts" (''Prelude to Foundation''). Seldon is awarded a Ph.D. in mathematics for his work on turbulence at the University of Helicon. There he becomes an assistant professor specializing in the mathematical analysis of social structures. Seldon is the subject of a biography by

Gaal Dornick ''Foundation'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov. It is the first published in his ''Foundation Trilogy'' (later expanded into the ''Foundation'' series). ''Foundation'' is a cycle of five interrelated short stories, ...

. Seldon is Emperor

Cleon I This is a list of characters in Isaac Asimov's ''Foundation'' series. Through the centuries-spanning nature of the ''Foundation'' series, the lives of its various characters are limited to one or two of its nine episodes. In spite of the great su ...

's second and last First Minister, the first being

Eto Demerzel R. Daneel Olivaw is a fictional robot created by Isaac Asimov. The "R" initial in his name stands for "Robot," a naming convention in Asimov's future society during Earth's early period of space colonization. Daneel is introduced in ''The Caves ...

R. Daneel Olivaw R. Daneel Olivaw is a fictional robot created by Isaac Asimov. The "R" initial in his name stands for "Robot," a naming convention in Asimov's future society during Earth's early period of space colonization. Daneel is introduced in ''The Caves ...

. He is deposed as First Minister after Cleon I's assassination.

''Foundation''

Using psychohistory, Seldon mathematically determines what he calls ''The Seldon Plan''—a plan to determine the right time and place to set up a new society, one that would replace the collapsing

by sheer force of social pressure, but over only a thousand-year time span, rather than the ten-to-thirty-thousand-year time span that would normally have been required, and thus reduce the human suffering from living in a time of barbarism. The Foundation is placed on

Terminus Terminus may refer to: * Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end destination * Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination Geography *Terminus, the unofficial original name of Atlanta, Georgia, United ...

, a remote and resource-poor planet entirely populated by scientists and their families. The planet—or so Seldon claimed—was originally occupied to create the ''

Encyclopedia Galactica The ''Encyclopedia Galactica'' is the name of a number of fictional or hypothetical encyclopedias containing all the knowledge accumulated by a galaxy-spanning (Type III in Kardashev scale) civilization. The name evokes the exhaustive aspects o ...

,'' a vast compilation of the knowledge of a dying galactic empire. In reality, Terminus had a much larger role in his Plan, which he had to conceal from its inhabitants at first.

''Prelude to Foundation''

Seldon visits Trantor to attend the Decennial Mathematics Convention. He presents a paper which indicates that one could theoretically predict the Galactic Empire's future. He is able to show that Galactic society can be represented in a simulation simpler than itself (in a finite number of iterations before the onset of chaotic noise smears discerning sets of events). He does so using a technique invented that past century. At first, Seldon has no idea how this could be done in practice, and he is fairly confident that no one could actually fulfill the possibility. Shortly after his presentation, he becomes a lightning rod for political forces who want to use psychohistory for their own purposes. The rest of the novel tells of his flight, which lasts for approximately a year and which takes him through the complex and variegated world of Trantor. During his flight to escape the various political factions, he discovers how psychohistory can be made a practical science. It is in this novel that he meets his future wife

Dors Venabili This is a list of characters in Isaac Asimov's ''Foundation'' series. Through the centuries-spanning nature of the ''Foundation'' series, the lives of its various characters are limited to one or two of its nine episodes. In spite of the great su ...

, future adopted son

Raych Seldon This is a list of characters in Isaac Asimov's ''Foundation'' series. Through the centuries-spanning nature of the ''Foundation'' series, the lives of its various characters are limited to one or two of its nine episodes. In spite of the great su ...

, and future partner

Yugo Amaryl This is a list of characters in Isaac Asimov's ''Foundation'' series. Through the centuries-spanning nature of the ''Foundation'' series, the lives of its various characters are limited to one or two of its nine episodes. In spite of the great su ...

''Forward the Foundation''

This novel is told as a sequence of

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

, as was the case with the original trilogy. They take place at intervals a decade or more apart, and tell the story of Hari's life, starting about ten years after '' Prelude'' and ending with his death. The stories contrast his increasingly successful professional life with his increasingly unsuccessful personal life. Seldon becomes involved in politics when

becomes a target for a smear campaign conducted by Laskin Joranum. He eventually takes Demerzel's place as First Minister, despite his reluctance to divide his attention between government and the development of Psychohistory. His career comes to an end when Cleon I is assassinated by his gardener (a random event Seldon could not have predicted) and the seizure of power by a military junta. Seldon eventually causes the fall of the junta by dropping subtle false hints about what Psychohistory foresees, leading to the Junta making unpopular decisions. However, an agent of the Junta inside Seldon's team, having deduced that Dors is a robot, builds a device that ultimately kills her, leaving Seldon heartbroken. Years later, Seldon discovers that his granddaughter Wanda has telepathic abilities and begins searching for others like her but fails. Raych eventually decides to move his family to the planet Santanni, but Wanda chooses to remain with her elderly grandfather. However, just after they arrive a rebellion breaks out on the planet and Raych is killed in the fighting. His wife and child are lost when their ship disappears. Seldon eventually finds Stettin Palver, another telepath who becomes Wanda's husband and the pair are eventually instrumental in creating the Second Foundation. Seldon mentions two indigenous species of Helicon: the lamec and the greti. The first is a hardworking animal, while the latter is dangerous as indicated by the native Helicon saying "If you ride a greti, you find you can't get off; for then it will eat you." The saying is similar to the age-old Chinese proverb "He who rides the tiger finds it difficult to dismount", and the words ''lamec'' and ''greti'' are anagrams of ''camel'' and ''tiger'', respectively. In his old age, he gains the nickname ''Raven'' for his dire predictions of the future.

Contemporary influence

Historian Ian Morris has discussed the applicability and inspiration of Hari Seldon to statistics and prediction. Hari Seldon's name is cited in an article in ''The Economist'' discussing the use of statistics in

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

, the process through which societies change collective political thinking, and "a general computer model of society." Seldon is also quite often named in research as a metaphorical literary reference point. There is speculation in ''Forbes'' that Seldon's psychohistory is being manifested in today's emergence of

Big Data Though used sometimes loosely partly because of a lack of formal definition, the interpretation that seems to best describe Big data is the one associated with large body of information that we could not comprehend when used only in smaller am ...

. In fact, the fictional character of Seldon has even been labeled as a "paradigmatic figure" in Big Data research. In 2019, the term ''Seldonian algorithm'' was chosen to honor the character in new

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...

techniques intended to avoid undesirable behaviors in decision-making systems. People who credit to Hari Seldon for the career choices that they made include economist and ''New York Times'' columnist

Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American economist, who is Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and a columnist for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, Krugman was th ...

and US politician

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...

. French politician

Jean-Luc Mélenchon Jean-Luc Antoine Pierre Mélenchon (; born 19 August 1951) is a French politician who was a member of the National Assembly for the 4th constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône from 2017 to 2022. He led the ''La France Insoumise'' group in the Nation ...

also cites Seldon as one of his

metapolitical Metapolitics (sometimes written meta-politics) is metalinguistic talk about politics; a political dialogue about politics itself. In this mode, metapolitics takes on various forms of inquiry, appropriating to itself another way toward the discourse ...

sources of inspiration.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seldon, Hari Characters in American novels of the 20th century Fictional heads of government Fictional mathematicians Fictional professors Fictional psychologists Foundation universe characters Literary characters introduced in 1951 Male characters in literature