“Never summon powers you cannot control.” —Yuval Noah Harari, Nexus
In 1797, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe penned The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (German: Der Zauberlehrling), a poem about an eager apprentice who, left unsupervised, enchants a broom to fetch water. The magic quickly spirals out of control as the apprentice is unable to stop the broom from flooding the room. Desperately, he tries to break the spell, but his limited knowledge leads to chaos instead of control. Ultimately, the sorcerer returns to fix the mess.