Дюна

           Forthisreason,computerswereeventuallymadeillegalbyhumans,asdecreedintheOrangeCatholicBible:“Thoushaltnotmakeamachineinthelikenessofahumanmind.”Therootsofthejihadwentbacktoindividualsmyparentsknew,tomymother’sgrandfatherCooperLandisandtoourfamilyfriendRalphSlattery,bothofwhomabhorredmachines.

           Still,therearecomputersintheDuneuniverse,longafterthejihad.Astheseriesunfolds,itisrevealedthattheBeneGesseritshavesecretcomputerstokeeptrackoftheirbreedingrecords.AndtheMentatsofDune,capableofsupremelogic,are“humancomputers.”Inlargepartthesehumancalculatorswerebaseduponmyfather’spaternalgrandmother,MaryStanley,anilliterateKentuckyhill-womanwhoperformedincrediblemathematicalcalculationsinherhead.MentatsweretheprecursorsofStarTrek’sSpock,FirstOfficerofthestarshipEnterprise...andFrankHerbertdescribedthedangersofthinking

           machinesbackinthe1960s,yearsbeforeArnoldSchwarzenegger’sTerminatormovies.

           Remarkably,noaliensinhabittheDuneuniverse.Eventhemostexoticofcreatures,themutantGuildNavigators,arehumans.Soarethevilegeneticwizards,theTleilaxu,andthegholasgrownintheirfleshvats.AmongthemostunusualhumanstospringfromFrankHerbert’simagination,thewomenoftheBeneGesseritSisterhoodhaveacollectivememory—aconceptbasedlargelyuponthewritingsandteachingsofCarlGustavJung,whospokeofa“collectiveunconscious,”thatsupposedlyinbornsetof“contentsandmodesofbehavior”

           possessedbyallhumanbeings.