In some respects, cybernetic analysis might be thought of as a real-life version of the fictional concept of "psychohistory," a predictive science described by Isaac Asimov in his science-fiction Foundation series. Like psychohistory, such analysis shows how predictable aggregate patterns of action may arise in large, complex societies, despite the unpredictable variations of individual behavior. According to Asimov, the predictive capacity of psychohistory can be thwarted if the tool itself is available to some members of the population under study. In the same fashion, an understanding of the trends traced in our analytical graphs can be used to "derail" an undesired trend, so to speak—thus altering the course of history.