Delphi

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Delphi is a town in Greece near Mount Parnassus. It is also an archaeological site of the Delphic Oracle, an information-providing intermediary to the deity Apollo. The term today is common in analytic and software methods that use predictive techniques.

Classic Greece

(CC) Photo: Martin Wyatt
Delphi (not the temple of Apollo)

In classic Greece, it was the site of the famous oracle of the god Apollo, where a priestess would take questions from people who wanted advice on a wide variety of topics and issues, and would impart the wisdom of Apollo, often with cryptic and ambiguous messages which were easily misinterpreted. The oracle was closed down by the Christian emperor Theodosius late in the 4th century.

Technology

The Delphi method is a means of eliciting expert opinion, often in the context of futures studies, with a technique that can minimize the effect of dominant personalities in face-to-face meetings.