Know thyself: Many have said this. Socrates—maybe you’ve heard of him? Though he seems to have gotten the phrase from the oracle at Apollo’s temple in Delphi, where it was chiseled into the stone ...

In a scene from The Matrix, the film's protagonist, Neo, meets the Oracle. The Oracle refers to a source of wisdom—often a prophet, visionary, or sage—who can foresee the future. In philosophy, such ...