Talk to me some Dune

[MrDibble]

@Irishman

that opens a real can of worms for your story.

Heh heh!

[xtenkfarpl]

@DPRK

Paul had Mentat training (among other things), and we all know what he did…

True, but I wouldn’t have said his powers were mostly based on superhuman computational abilities?

[DPRK]

The Mentat stuff was not, I suppose, a merely coincidental part of his breeding and upbringing. But you are right that his computational/analytical feats, and his particular training, are not focused mostly on mental arithmetic.

“Your mother wanted me to be the one to tell you, Son. You see, you may have Mentat capabilities.”

Paul stared at his father, unable to speak for a moment, then: “A Mentat? Me? But I…”

“Hawat agrees, Son. It’s true.”

“But I thought Mentat training had to start during infancy and the subject couldn’t be told because it might inhibit the early…” He broke off, all his past circumstances coming to focus in one flashing computation. “I see,” he said.

“A day comes,” the Duke said, “when the potential Mentat must learn what’s being done. It may no longer be done to him. The Mentat has to share in the choice of whether to continue or abandon the training. Some can continue; some are incapable of it. Only the potential Mentat can tell this for sure about himself.”

Paul rubbed his chin. All the special training from Hawat and his mother — the mnemonics, the focusing of awareness, the muscle control and sharpening of sensitivities, the study of languages and nuances of voices — all of it clicked into a new kind of understanding in his mind.

“You’ll be the Duke someday, Son,” his father said. “A Mentat Duke would be formidable indeed. Can you decide now . . . or do you need more time?”

There was no hesitation in his answer. “I’ll go on with the training.”

“Formidable indeed,” the Duke murmured, and Paul saw the proud smile on his father’s face. The smile shocked Paul: it had a skull look on the Duke’s narrow features. Paul closed his eyes, feeling the terrible purpose reawaken within him. Perhaps being a Mentat is terrible purpose, he thought.

But even as he focused on this thought, his new awareness denied it.

[Irishman]

A lot is made of Mentats for computation, and that’s certainly a significant role. Being able to take the logarithm of the square root of a really large number quickly might be important. But we can’t neglect that they also serve as logical analysts and strategists. One of their chief roles is “Master Assassin”, and that’s not just to plan attacks on enemies and rivals, but to anticipate and neutralize attacks on their charges.

The Lynch movie has Hawat taking a flash report on the status of troops from the field, and it’s literally flash of light from the monitor. Speed absorption of detailed information and perfect recall are also significant abilities.

[xtenkfarpl]

@DPRK

But you are right that his computational/analytical feats, and his particular training, are not focused mostly on mental arithmetic.

Exactly: his powers seem to come from some more mystical source?

Though the breeding program seems remarkably similar to ‘children of the lens’ in E.E Smith’s Galactic patrol series, where it was overseen by the Arisians, rather than the Bene Gesserit?

Of course, authors take an idea, make it their own, and run with it! (Like Discworld).

[MeanJoe]

@mbh

David Lynch monkeyed around with the book when he made his movie. 98% of the changes were bad. But I liked the incantation that Piter de Vries recites when he drinks the sapho juice. It’s certainly not in the original books, but it fits the zeitgeist.

Agreed. It fit so well that I somehow convinced myself it did occur in the book(s). I’ve read Dune a dozen times, and watched the Lynch movie probably as many but somehow this one still is conflated in head as from the book.