Dune is the epic tale of the young nobleman Paul Atreides and his ascendancy to power in a futuristic world characterized by intergalactic human habitation. In his narrative, author Frank Herbert shows a preoccupation with the future development of the human mind. This was an unusual priority for science fiction of the time, which tended to focus on technological futures rather than advances in human psychology. While Dune includes some futuristic technologies such as laser shields and ornithopters, it is the cognitive abilities of humans that best showcase Herbert’s creativity. In particular, Herbert uses the future cognitive and psychic abilities of Mentats and Bene Gesserit sisters to demonstrate his belief that humanity’s cultural evolution will hinge more on cognitive rather than technological changes.
The Bene Gesserit order is a mysterious sisterhood who favor psychological manipulation for worldly influence, and they are responsible for many of Dune’s political occurrences. The group taps into many forms of mental conditioning. This includes a female collective unconscious that arises from shared genetic memories, using “the weirding way” to exert psychic control over others, and using mental control to override physical stresses such as pain. The sisterhood is also responsible for 40 generations of genetic bloodline control aimed at producing the prophesized Kwisatz Haderach, a powerful being capable of shaping humanity’s future prosperity. Thus, the Bene Gesserit’s complex cognitive talents and missions are critical for human evolution in Herbert’s novel.
Mentats are individuals possessing extreme analytical and processing abilities who symbolically function to replace computers Herbert’s story. The world of Dune has banned any “thinking machines” made “in the likeness of man,” and therefore there are no digital machines such as computers. Instead, Mentats are humans who can process enormous amounts of data to make complex and insightful decisions. Often employed as political aides to noble families, Mentats symbolically function to highlight Herbert’s distrust of exclusively technological societal advances. Herbert’s dislike of technological evolution is also represented by the ability of the sandworms on planet Arrakis to render electrical and metal technologies useless.
The culmination of Herbert’s desire to see humanity evolve cognitively rather than technologically is reflected in the development of Dune’s protagonist, Paul Atreides. With the aid of spice, Paul transforms into the Kwisatz Haderach “who could indeed see the future.” As this figure, he is the culmination of the Bene Gesserit’s 10,000-year-old genetic breeding program and can access the sisterhood’s collective memories. He learns to practice “mind-body” meditation from his Bene Gesserit mother, Lady Jessica, to relieve personal stresses. He also trains his Fremen army in the Bene Gesserit “weirding way” so that they become more lethal soldiers. Paul also benefits from the childhood Mentat training he received from Thufir Hawat, who was Duke Leto’s talented Mentat. Hawat was able to train the young Atreides extensively in political and military strategy, which ultimately helps Paul capitalize on circumstances that link him to the Fremen’s prophesized messiah “Lisan al-Gaib.” This, in turn, sets Paul up for his triumph over the Padishah Emperor and Harkonnens with the support of the Fremen army. Thus, the mental abilities of the Bene Gesserit and Mentats shape the cognitive makeup of Paul Atreides, who is Frank Herbert’s ultimate depiction of human potential in Dune. Across his writing, Herbert was invested in exploring the evolution of the human mind over time; Paul’s development is a transformational point in Herbert’s imagined future of Dune due to Paul’s unique cognitive abilities.
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Human Cognitive Advances Quotes in Dune
“A duke’s son must know about poisons,” she said. “It’s the way of our times, eh? Musky, to be poisoned in your drink. Aumas, to be poisoned in your food. The quick ones and the slow ones and the ones in between. Here’s a new one for you: the gom jabbar. It kills only animals.”
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
Muad’Dib learned rapidly because his first training was in how to learn. And the first lesson of all was the basic trust that he could learn. It’s shocking to find how many people do not believe they can learn, and how many more believe learning to be difficult. Muad’Dib knew that every experience carries its lesson.
Greatness is a transitory experience. It is never consistent. It depends in part upon the myth-making imagination of humankind. The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in. He must reflect what is projected upon him. And he must have a strong sense of the sardonic. This is what uncouples him from belief in his own pretensions. The sardonic is all that permits him to move within himself. Without this quality, even occasional greatness will destroy a man.
“I’ve heard you have a saying,” Paul said, “that polish comes from the cities, wisdom from the desert.”
People are the true strength of a Great House, Paul thought. And he remembered Hawat’s words: “Parting with people is a sadness; a place is only a place.”
Let him sweat a little, the Baron thought. One must always keep the tools of statecraft sharp and ready. Power and fear—sharp and ready.
My mother obeyed her Sister Superiors where the Lady Jessica disobeyed. Which of them was the stronger? History has already answered.
“I’m sorry, Grandfather,” Alia said. You’ve met the Atreides gom jabbar.”
The Guild Navigators, gifted with limited prescience, had made the fatal decision: they’d chosen always the clear, safe course that leads ever downward into stagnation.
“If I hear any more nonsense from either of you,” Paul said, “I’ll give the order that’ll destroy all spice production on Arrakis … forever.”
[…]
“Do it!” Paul barked. “The power to destroy a thing is the absolute control over it. You’ve agreed I have that power. We are not here to discuss or negotiate or compromise. You will obey my orders or suffer the immediate consequences!”
“He means it,” the shorter Guildsman said. And Paul saw the fear grip them.
"Do you know so little of my son?" Jessica whispered. "See that princess standing there, so haughty and confident. They say she has pretensions of a literary nature. Let us hope she finds solace in such things; she'll have little else." A bitter laugh escaped Jessica. "Think on it, Chani: that princess will have the name, yet she'll live as less than a concubine — never to know a moment of tenderness from the man to whom she's bound. While we, Chani, we who carry the name of concubine — history will call us wives.”
