# Dune - what would most upset Fremen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2009, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301 "2009-08-22T10:48:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/1 "2009-08-22T10:48:43Z")
This thread was inspired by a knowledgeable discussion on a line from the book (film) ‘Dune’. At the end comes this thought (bolding mine): > [@A question about an obscure line in the movie 'Dune'](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-an-obscure-line-in-the-movie-dune/506940/16): > > It still takes Paul a while to really understand the importance of water, shown when he initially refuses Jamis’ water. You’d think that mere minutes after this exchange, walking into the wet-planet conservatory would have had more of an impact on him. But, it helped to plant the seed. > > … > > Paul and Jessica are both interested by the conservatory but their reactions are more, oh - cool, plants. **A Fremen probably would have gone into a holy frenzy**. OK, the Fremen live or die by not wasting water. So what egregious water ‘crime’ could an off-worlder commit? I vote for a golf course! ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/2 "2009-08-22T11:33:52Z")
Wet T-Shirt contests. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/3 "2009-08-22T11:48:56Z")
Peeing just anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/4 "2009-08-22T12:12:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Paul and Jessica are both interested by the conservatory but their reactions are more, oh - cool, plants. A Fremen probably would have gone into a holy frenzy. I think the Shadout Mapes referred to it as the “witching room”. I image the idea of a water park would have the Fremen spitting in fury, metaphorically at least. ---
**Author:** ![Aquila\_Be](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Aquila\_Be](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquila_Be)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/5 "2009-08-22T12:14:48Z")
> [@](#): > > Paul and Jessica are both interested by the conservatory but their reactions are more, oh - cool, plants. A Fremen probably would have gone into a holy frenzy. I first encountered this in the book and thought the reaction of outrage by the Fremen servants to the conservatory was just plain silly. It was an enclosed conservatory, in other words a closed cycle plant growing system. The amount of water lost to the outside would have been minimal. The Fremen way of growing food in open air irrigated farms, as described in the book, would have wasted a hundred times more water. The only impression I got from that scene was that Frank Herbert didn’t really have a very good grasp or understanding of the most ecologically efficient ways to use water. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/6 "2009-08-22T13:08:57Z")
•Leaving the faucet running while you brushed your teeth. -Possibly brushing your teeth in the first place. •Bragging about a colossal offworld civil engineering project that involved capturing many thousands of comets and icy asteroids, carefully processed, machined, and _polished_ into a high-albedo half dyson shell placed around a semi-habitable planet, boiling off what surface water there was, and broiling it into a sterile, arid husk of dust and rock…all for the glory of bringing about the magnificent, lifeless desolation, and proving that it could be done by human hands. Even if only at the capricious whim of madmen and aristocrats, such as yourself. •Sending back the bottled water at a restaurant because it was Italian, not French, bottled water. And then sending the replacement back because it was an off-brand. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/7 "2009-08-22T13:11:26Z")
The worst use of water to Freman might just be a water cannon to shoot Shai-Hulud. ---
**Author:** ![Mekhazzio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b38774/32.png) [@Mekhazzio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mekhazzio)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/8 "2009-08-22T13:23:16Z")
> [@Aquila\_Be](#): > > I first encountered this in the book and thought the reaction of outrage by the Fremen servants to the conservatory was just plain silly > > The Fremen way of growing food in open air irrigated farms, as described in the book, would have wasted a hundred times more water. The difference, of course, is that cultivation of food is an essential need, and while it’s possible that the conservatory was indeed a completely closed system, with little to no wastage, it’s still an immense amount of water set aside for the sole purpose of vanity and luxury for a few people, instead of serving the community. Hoarding a scarce resource never makes for much popularity. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/9 "2009-08-22T14:34:55Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Peeing just anywhere. Peeing in _their collected water_. I wonder if dropping a Fremen on an island would drive him/her mad? “Beautiful water, but I can’t drink it! It kills me!” ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/10 "2009-08-22T15:10:32Z")
I thought this question was answered in _Children of Dune_: (1) Tell a Fremen he wears the “collar” of a slave, (2) Accuse him of selling other Fremen for their water. (3) Remind him that he has no descendents. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/11 "2009-08-22T15:14:33Z")
> [@Aquila\_Be](#): > > The Fremen way of growing food in open air irrigated farms, as described in the book, would have wasted a hundred times more water. They grew plants by using dew collectors that channeled the miniscule amount of moisture there was in the air towards the plant. I doubt it used much water at all. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/12 "2009-08-22T16:07:42Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I thought this question was answered in _Children of Dune_: > > (1) Tell a Fremen he wears the “collar” of a slave, > (2) Accuse him of selling other Fremen for their water. > (3) Remind him that he has no descendents. As per the OP, I was looking for **water** crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/13 "2009-08-22T16:08:21Z")
The Spice Girls breaking up. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/14 "2009-08-22T16:10:50Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > The Spice Girls breaking up. Bravo! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/15 "2009-08-22T16:16:42Z")
> [@glee](#): > > As per the OP, I was looking for **water** crimes. Accusing a Fremen of selling other Fremen for their water. Or sell Fremen yourself for that purpose, that would probably be more upsetting. Other than that, I doubt that a golf course on another planet would upset them. Does a Saudi get outraged that a particular high school teacher in Kansas is wearing slacks and short sleeves, beyond his general dislike and contempt for nonbelievers generally? ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/16 "2009-08-22T16:19:49Z")
[Hydraulic Mining](http://www.consrv.ca.gov/cgs/information/publications/library/cd_98_001/Pages/a7195.aspx). Using a giant water cannon to blast away hillsides just to get a tiny bit of precious metal. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/17 "2009-08-22T16:24:52Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I doubt that a golf course on another planet would upset them. Does a Saudi get outraged that a particular high school teacher in Kansas is wearing slacks and short sleeves, beyond his general dislike and contempt for nonbelievers generally? :smack: Obviously the golf course is on Dune - no matter how much watering it takes. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/18 "2009-08-22T16:49:32Z")
Kosher butchering would probably drive them bonkers, too. All that nice watery blood just spilled out and thrown away… on religious grounds ! GAH ! ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/19 "2009-08-22T16:51:06Z")
A water park. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301/20 "2009-08-22T21:23:20Z")
_Bukkake_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-what-would-most-upset-fremen/507301.md?page=2)