Mining the future

摘要

Croesus, the king of ancient Lydia, wanted to know the future. It wasn't going to be easy. First he had to climb the slopes of mount Parnassus to consult the Pythia, a Greek oracle. Those granted an audience received a prophecy, but only if they brought along a sacrificial goat. Having heard the prophecy, expressed in enigmatic verse, they then had to figure out what it meant. Croesus was told that a great empire would fall if he went to war. He invaded his Persian neighbours, only to discover that the ill-fated empire was his own. It might seem as if little has changed.