The Mule shows Asimov knew psychohistory would never work on its own.
The recorded prediction of the crisis with the independent traders didn't happen, because of The Mule. This was the Era of Deviations, and it took centuries for the Second Foundation to manipulate things back to the Sheldon Plan.
And of course, the influence of R. Daneel Olivaw across nearly 20,000 years, guided by the Zeroth Law of Robotics.
The Mule shows Asimov knew psychohistory would never work on its own.
The recorded prediction of the crisis with the independent traders didn't happen, because of The Mule. This was the Era of Deviations, and it took centuries for the Second Foundation to manipulate things back to the Sheldon Plan.
And of course, the influence of R. Daneel Olivaw across nearly 20,000 years, guided by the Zeroth Law of Robotics.