Frank Herbert’s Dune
presents a future where humanity has long since rid itself of the crutch of thinking machines.
Roughly 10,000 years before Paul Atreides set foot on the desert planet Arrakis humans had undergone
a violent and destructive revolt that led to the banishment of all machine computing technology
and artificial intelligence. The result of this crusade forced humanity to look inward, to start
schools to train and refine their own natural talents and to make advancements as a species.
While any and all forms of technology that seemingly
mimicked the natural abilities of the human mind were made illegal,
not all types of advanced devices met this criteria. In this video I’d like to discuss
how society and its technology evolved in the wake of this interstellar machine crusade.
Thou Shalt Not Make a Machine in the Likeness of a Human Mind. This was the supreme command
that guided society following the Great Revolt. Mankind had inadvertently turned
their thinking ability over to machines in the hopes this would lead to greater
freedom instead it led to their enslavement. The political, religious and commercial institutions
made sure that man would never be in a position to be replaced again. The infrastructure that
developed in this new era was largely based upon advancing human talents as well as the
development of technology that was in no danger of mimicking and thus replacing human abilities.
The discovery of the Holtzman effect led to a new branch of innovation as it was employed in
a wide range of devices that would be incorporated throughout the Imperium.
The Holztman effect is a scientific theory relating to the repellant force of subatomic
particles and was so named after the physicist who discovered it. Genius Scientist Norma Cenva
put this principle to practical use in her many inventions that society would come to depend on.
The most critical being the Holtzman Engine which enabled the Spacing Guild to carve out a monopoly
on interstellar transport. Early space travel, although widespread, was largely unregulated,
slow and uncertain. A spacecraft equipped with a Holtzman drive could fold space and time to travel
instantaneously across the universe. Though this method of interstellar travel was fast it wasn’t
entirely reliable. Navigating the hazards of space to ensure the safe arrival of passengers
and goods had to be achieved without the use of computers to chart coordinates. Once the
Spice Melange was discovered on Arrakis, enabling Guild Navigators to foresee safe paths thru space,
it would come to cement the Spacing Guild’s dominance in the realm of space travel,
transportation of goods and interstellar commerce, an event that would even change
the Imperial Dating system to reflect the genesis of the Guild’s monopoly.
Holtzman technology not only shaped the economic affairs of the Imperium it also fundamentally
changed the nature of warfare itself. With the invention of the Holtzman Field Generator came
many practical use applications, the greatest of which was the Defensive Shield. This protective
field is produced from Phase One of the Holtzman Generator’s suspensor nullification effect. This
shield will permit entry only to objects moving at slow speeds, the settings for which can be
adjusted. Depending on the setting, this speed ranges from six to nine centimeters per second.
Defensive Shields were also calibrated to allow the passage of matter that traveled below a set
speed enabling atmospheric gasses to pass through preventing suffocation. This leap in innovation
effectively made conventional projectile weapons obsolete as any fast moving weaponry would not be
able to penetrate a shield. These shields could be used to protect installations and also became
common enough for anyone of minimal importance to acquire and use for personal protection against
the threat of assasination, crime or accidental injury. The use of personal shields became so
widespread, new weapons and new battle tactics were implemented across the Imperium. Before the
widespread use of this technology, the Lasgun, a continuous wave laser projector taking the
form of a pistol or rifle, had been the most common type of hand weapon. However it was
discovered that if contact was made between a lasgun and a shield it could result in a
nuclear explosion with no way to predict the center of the blast. The Great Convention a
treaty brokered between the Imperium, the Great Houses and the Spacing Guild strictly prohibited
battle tactics with such mass destruction and so lasguns fell out of general use.
New techniques in hand to hand combat with the skillful use of Melee weapons were developed and
employed across the armies of the Imperium. In combat with shielded opponents one must be fast
on defense and slow on attack. The shield easily prevents fast moving projectiles and melee attacks
but the slow moving blade timed to penetrate a shield’s defenses can deliver the fatal blow.
In addition to direct combat applications, the Holtzman Field Generator’s repellent effect could
also enable an object to defy gravity and thus these hovering devices were outfitted to a wide
array of common household items for mankind’s everyday use. Holtzman Suspensors utilize the
secondary (low-drain) phase of a Holtzman field generator to nullify gravity within
certain limits prescribed by relative mass and energy consumption. The first
invention to utilize suspensor technology were glowglobes. Illuminating devices self-powered
by organic batteries that are able to float as a result of the attached field generator.
Throughout the Imperium these devices are also built into chairs, tables and heavy
objects requiring levitation to move. Baron Vladimir Harkonnen famously relies on these
devices to support his corpulent size and allow for ease of movement. The Emperor’s Sardaukar
warriors also take advantage of suspensors which enable them to descend safely from dangerous
heights. They are also used in the common assassination device known as the Hunter Seeker.
Over the thousands of years following the technological purge of the Great Revolt,
the Holtzman Effect came to be utilized in various ways across the Imperium ranging
from simple quality of life applications to those that changed the nature of warfare and
shaped the political and economic affairs of the known universe. Considering the fact that
Holtzman technology did not replace any natural abilities of humans, it's easy to understand
why these devices came to be so heavily relied upon. What I find fascinating is how the human
race found itself once again starting to stagnate when it came to their reliance on such technology.
When speaking about the pivotal event in mankind’s history the God Emperor Leto
Atreides II noted that the target of the Great Revolt also known as the Butlerian
Jihad was a machine attitude as much as the machines. Men had relinquished their freedoms,
their thinking ability to machines, setting up sophisticated technology to usurp their
own sense of self and beauty from which they made living judgments. Human innovation coupled with
inherent laziness was perceived as the potential destruction of the human race. In one future,
Leto saw the development of autonomous, self improving hunter seekers. If left unchecked,
these devices would ultimately search out all organic matter and would subsequently seek to
reduce it to an inorganic state. Therefore, the God Emperor remained determined to guide humanity
down the terrible Golden Path. A carefully crafted future intended to save the human
species from it’s inevitable destruction by the very technology they themselves had created.
But I’m curious to know what you think of the technology presented in Frank Herbert’s
Dune. Is there a specific device that relies on the Holtzman effect that you find particularly
interesting? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below. I hope you enjoyed this
video. Leave a like if you did and be sure to subscribe for more Dune and other sci-fi and
fantasy news and lore. Thank you all so much for your support and as always have a very nerdy day.