prophecies of Dune, part 2
The syncretism of religions, Catholicism and Islam and Buddhism, that I remember off the top of my head, in the series had import, I feel, too. But I may leave that for a part three of this blog series.
Herbert also had a keen interest in the ecology of the earth. He studied the sand dunes on the Oregon coast and how scientists battled with nature; against the slow creep of the sand dunes in the early part of the 20th century which nearly took over a town on the Oregon coast. They planted European beach grass was planted to halt the progression of the sand dunes which was engulfing roads, the cars and homes. It is interesting how in such cases sand dunes can continue to take over the land until there is nothing but desert. This phenomenon has happened in other lands around the world, like certain parts of Africa and the Middle East. I’ve heard that the Saharan desert, aeons ago, was significantly smaller than it is today and that many areas in the Middle East, places that encompassed ancient Biblical lands, were once garden-like and green, flowing with water. The desert has overtaken these places today. The role of water scarcity and ecology were important themes in the Dune series, as well as religion and politics. As they are today and even more-so than in the past. A.I. will become a major problem for us all in regards to access to clean, drinkable water, because the type of chips that were pursued use enormous amounts of energy and need fresh water to keep the massive data centers they inhabit from over heating.
(Spoiler alert!) Then, there is the question of the role of Woman. I speak of the frightening concept of the civilization of Ix. There is the mystery of the axlotl tanks throughout the series. The axlotl tanks of Ix and recurrent views on women’s roles in society among some internet communities seem similar in a certain way. The resurgence in primitive attitudes towards women in certain internet communities - the idea that all a woman is good for is having babies has roots in other things that I can write about in another post - one about fear of the future and the decay of a major civilization, which is a cycle the human family repeats throughout time. But, I digress.
That She, Woman, has no other value to her man or to society other than to give birth. And in the most primitive, give birth to sons. We can see the results if this attitude in China today. Too many young Chinese men cannot find a mate. While one can say that they can find other women outside the culture, and that has been done throughout time, that over time, radically changes culture which can create other issues that natalists don’t talk about. Or at least I don’t see them talking about them. That issue is people who grow up existing in two cultures and some may not align themselves with the father’s culture. They may choose to identify with the mother instead.
While I have traditional views on quite a few things this is not true on everything. One thing I will never support, as a woman, is this idea that I have no value beyond my womb. God would never have gifted me or other women with intelligent minds if this was the case. He would have approved of the idea of females simply being turned into axlotl tanks to simply breed, nothing but machine and flesh, a womb and a vagina that has no sentience nor even a mind. It reminds me of the Ixian civilization where the males have turned the females into breeding tanks, quite literally, machined tanks waiting to be inseminated. While this is not literally happening to woman today the idea that what you think or what is on your mind has no importance to a man was always ever present in every culture. The constant question of motherhood, or lack thereof brings attention to this theme in Herbert’s work. The attitude that women should love and take care of their families is Godly, a fine thing. It respects the traditional ideal of Womanhood. But the idea that all we are good for is to stay in the home and remain pregnant is ignorant. It’s the attitude behind the idea that can be the problem. Such disrespectful attitudes towards women in a culture usually signals that that culture is moving backwards, not towards traditional values but towards ignorance and darkness. Womankind was created as a helper by God for Man. Not a mule. When Adam first saw Eve he exclaimed his delight in poetry. At Genesis 2:23 he said:
Then the man said:
“This is at last bone of my bones.
And flesh of my flesh.
This one will be called Woman,
Because from man she was taken.”
Of course, things fell apart afterwards, but that’s gristle for another post. I would add that the Apostle Paul made it clear that one could find blessings from either marriage (and children) or singleness and this was true for both men and women. Woman has a purpose in God’s family, and birthing children is but one of those paths - not the only path.
This subject also reminds me of what happens in a society when machines are allowed to have too much influence over daily life. People are no longer human but numbers or objects. There seems to be a correlation here. The Ixian males saw one half of their planet’s population as nothing more than machine wombs, there to give birth and nothing more. They had no personhood, so they turned their females into grotesque, unsentient baby-making machines. Ixian females no longer had heads, chests, arms or legs, only abdomens, thighs and the necessary reproductive organs. The realization of it, when I first read it as a girl, was frightening. And it has always stayed with me. I don’t think this was shown in any of the films made about the series over the years, not even the latest ones. I think I understand. Such a thing would have been too much for people. But it’s something to ponder, as we all sit on the edge and watch the fall of Western Civilization.
Check out my Red World trilogy, very much inspired by the Dune series. An audiobook version is in the works.
Happy reading!
The Prophecies of frank herbert and Dune
My favorite cover!
It may seem like I’m over stating my opinion. And Frank Herbert wasn’t trying to be a prophet. He, like any writer, was writing what was in his heart and on his mind. But I really have the belief that quite a few of the science fiction authors of old were secular prophets, and in my opinion, Frank Herbert was one of the foremost “prophets”. In fact, one of the “major” prophets of science fiction, like a Jeremiah, an Ezekiel or a Daniel.
I first read Dune many years ago , when I was in high school. It was my second trans-formative experience as a young writer. The first was The Lord of the Rings. Like the Lord of the Rings, this book was foundational in my desire to become a writer. After I’d read it, I wanted more stories in this world. Thankfully, Herbert had written five more books in his dazzling desert world and a few earlier tangential books that later influenced the series. Unfortunately, he died before he could finish the series.
But, that’s not what this post is about. This is about his prescience in what could happen to human civilization when it relies too heavily on machines. It’s moral decay, its decline in knowledge and education within the population towards a primitive way of life. It’s a warning and a theme that can be seen in the Terminator films, but addressed in a very different way; it creates the making of a dystopian, bleak future. One is also reminded of the first Matrix film.
When men become too dependent on machines to think for them they cease being humans. They become slaves or worst, unthinking beasts, as Reverend Mother Mohaim in Dune, might put it. Today, many years after the author’s death, we have become that very corrupted, decaying society. We have lost our gods, our heroes, our vision of a bright future, our cultural roots and the belief in the good of our society, but, we have our “new” god - The Machine, or as some might put it, the god in the machine. You even have those who truly believe in this new, fey religion; that the human mind and consciousness can be downloaded into the “machine” and exist there and they work feverishly to achieve this for humanity whether the rest of us want to come along or not. This worship of the Machine is a transcendental belief that has stripped off the moss and the bark of the old religions but has retained the idea of customs, rituals and vestigial appendages of the times of old, without the roots, the foundation and the archetypes that made religions what they were - and still are. And what is religion? It is the system of knowledge that necessarily wrestles with and does its best to answer the big questions of: Why? It is the entity that embraces and incorporates philosophy, the ecstatic experience, the mystery of the Supernatural, the spiritual, the holy ritual and it binds humans together within a culture like glue to create and maintain strong families, a strong society and therefore a strong civilization.
What does the Machine do? When not put in its proper place, like anything, and when under the control of those with strange and dark desires, it becomes destructive. We have become so dependent upon machines that often society ceases to function properly when things break apart or go down temporarily. Artificial Intelligence has taken this problem a step further. So many have become so disconnected to reality in the cyber world that they interact with A.I. as if it is a sentient intelligence instead of a thinking tool, which is what it really is. Many young people coming out of primary school and college see A.I. as an all free pass out of work and learning. They don’t want to learn anything because A.I. will do it for them. Why bother with the work of becoming educated when you don’t have to? I’m afraid to say, some years down the line these same young people are going to feel the harsh belt of reality when they can’t think or perform and are relegated to poverty and serfdom because they chose not to be educated. I know this is not true of all of them and the ones wise enough to understand that they need to be able to think critically, be curious about the world, read and use their brains will come out on top.
A.I. is not true intelligence, not in the way that humans understand intelligence. Honestly, we still don’t even know how to define intelligence well or explain where it comes from. We haven’t even been able to create life out of nothing. So, to enslave the human race to what is, in essence, a machine, to put us under the yoke of something we ourselves don’t fully understand how to use responsibly is anathema to human wisdom and survival. Those who are responsible for this problem have made sure they are still in control but they may not understand how precarious their own position is. This is always the way, if one reads history. Life has a habit of turning the tables on the greedy and powerful. This too happens in Dune. A scripture comes to my mind about these very kinds of people. Revelation 6:15-17. Read it sometime. It is a very interesting scripture in light of what is happening today. After all, there are reports that these tech geniuses and captains of new industry are the same ones building underground cities and lavish survival bunkers. What in the world are you doing building such things if the future is so bold and bright, as they try to tell us, if they aren’t gloating about how A.I. will eventually destroy humanity ( and oh, by the way, they’ve made billions of dollars because of it)? Because the one they are building isn’t bright. They are ushering in a new Dark Age and they know it. One where most of the population will be reduced once again, to peasantry, serfdom and slavery. And I have news for them; if the dirty, unwashed masses go, so will you. You don’t get to rid the planet of most of humanity and think that it will go well with you. It won’t. Those underground bunkers are simply fancy tombs. I’m sure Herbert is turning over in his grave over what society has become.
Look for part two if this series next. Also, you can check out my Red World trilogy, very much inspired by the Dune series. An audiobook version is in the works.
Happy reading.