Rereading "Foundation"

Asimov's incredible series- the science of prophecy, which actually comes a full circle from Robot, through Empire, then Foundation.

The story is about the prediction of the fall of the Empire, by a psychoistorian- Hari Seldon, who then sets up two Foundations "at opposite ends of the galaxy" to prevent thirty thousand years of chaos that would follow- and instead establish a benign empire within a thousand years.

I've always thought of "Foundation" as the first in the series, though "Prelude to foundation" is chronologically before, it was written after. "Foundation" details the way the Foundation was set up, its first conflicts, the first battles it one, and its establishment as one of the powers of the galaxy.

Then comes "Foundation and Empire" where the young Foundation and the dying Empire meet, but then Foundation is thrown off course by the arrival of the Mule, a mutant, with powers not predicted by psychohistory, which can predict only the actions of humans.

Thanks to the secret "Second Foundation" though, once the Mule dies, Seldon's Foundation continues to grow.

The premise of the story is really interesting- that even if the actions of one person is unpredictable, the action of a group of people -0r the result of their actions is more so, and the larger the group of people, the more predictable it becomes.

Thus, Seldon could chart a course for galactic history, not accounting for the actions of individuals, but for the actions of the group.

The science isn't perfect though, it fails, once the people become aware of psychohistory- aware that their actions as a group are predictable. You could argue therefore, that the "Second Foundation" even as it uses psychohistory to direct the path of the galaxy, by its very existence causes the failure of the plan. And on this paradox my head spins.