Terrence Fugate wrote:

> I suspect the 'fatalism' is HBP's belief that all polities have a
> limited life span.

No, it's more than that.

Why was Conn Maxwell able to use Merlin for planning, but Foxx Travis
couldn't even try to create a post-collapse core of civilization? Why
attempt to destroy Merlin because it might alter the course of events?
Think of the possibility of Foxx Travis throwing his influence behind
Poictesme?

The Cosmic Computer would still be a novel, but a different novel.