The mention of the I Ching reminds me of the Shang dynasty of early China. Divination played a central role in the ruling class's political authority. Among other techniques, questions for the ancestors of the ruler, as well as other beings, would be written on ox shoulder-bones and tortoise shells, heated, and the pattern of cracks created through the text would be analyzed for the answer.<p>The Shang were quite rational about it. All the results were recorded and analyzed. Ancestors who failed to yield good results would be bribed, punished, or ignored. Good results would encouraged before, and rewarded after, with various sacrifices. The oracle bone texts [1] themselves offer a unique insight, quite unlike anything in the world, kind of like if we had a collection of prayer notes or tarot readings for the President.<p>Anyway, it occurred to me that all this may have actually, well, worked. The whole process -- the record keeping, extensive reflection on the issue, discussions, subconscious influences on the interpretation, a pragmatic "well does it work?" attitude -- create a system for analysis of issues that, by means entirely other than what they thought, actually worked better than chance, in terms picking the right option.<p>[1] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone</a>