<< If we only knew the future

Frank Herbert’s:Dune, is a fantastic novel that despite its long life, still manages to remain interesting in the Sci-Fi arena even with all of our era's technological changes and advances..

Maybe the reason why this literary piece from the 60’s is still relevant; is because of the contentious philosophical discussions contained within its pages. The first two books in the series: Dune and Dune: Messiah, clearly state an interesting question on the morality of a messianic character.

Namely I would phrase this question as it follows: If you could know the future, would you have made the right choices?

Along these two books *Paul of the Atreides is caught up in a conflict. His ascension to power means war and destruction. And the one path which doesn’t, requires his own destruction.

And it is here we see the geniality of Dune: not so much in the near mystical might, the computational minds or the feats of technology; but how the choices leading to redemption must be taken even with the full certainty of their utter failure.

The strength of Paul lies in picking the right path (or at least the one road he wants realized) and sticking to it; despite the misunderstanding of practically everyone else in the series, even his own family who have (arguably) similar levels of prescience and understanding of future events.

The nature of choices and consequences reveals in the face of a dice that has already been casted. A cosmic algorithm is with known results long before the first movement is made on the board.

If we had access to the future, if we could see into the eye of infinity and knew the consequences of our actions would we still take them?

Would we have what it takes to drag us through a life where everything is already known and all is a certainty? And the conviction to do so even if it led to our own destruction?

The question of Dune is one of power and responsibility, a lesson in compromises and struggle.

It’s a statement where we have to face the possibility of limitless power and might, and eventually realize that raw power is not what makes the great men and women of history. That is completely different, it’s but an indomitable spirit which creates the road ahead.

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 Notes:

*Paul Atreides is the main character in the first two books of the series.