The Mules
Tensors, statistics, and differential equations
Predicting elections, wars, the decline and fall
Of galactic empires: these extrapolations
Form Hari Seldon’s “psychohistory”. All
Assume the trillionfold aggregate of data
Where details blur, and the deep currents emerge.
Asimov’s genius plot-twist: throw in later
The “Mule”, an ignorant clown – “Magnifico Gigant-
icus” – able to amp up a kind of emotional splurge
To trump the maths. Today, his heirs’ cant
And lies have won numberless fools’ hearts
By creating illusory tensions and sowing cruel
Hatred. Who now has the clout and smarts
To counter the random illogical acts they fuel?
Predicting elections, wars, the decline and fall
Of galactic empires: these extrapolations
Form Hari Seldon’s “psychohistory”. All
Assume the trillionfold aggregate of data
Where details blur, and the deep currents emerge.
Asimov’s genius plot-twist: throw in later
The “Mule”, an ignorant clown – “Magnifico Gigant-
icus” – able to amp up a kind of emotional splurge
To trump the maths. Today, his heirs’ cant
And lies have won numberless fools’ hearts
By creating illusory tensions and sowing cruel
Hatred. Who now has the clout and smarts
To counter the random illogical acts they fuel?
(16.5.26) v 1.01
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