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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   2819 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for April 14, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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See also Dune. Specifically Emperor Leto II’s Golden Path, a plan to be such a dick that humanity will have decentralization burned into their DNA.

Frankly, I find the Christian version less convincing. Less time, less explicit selection, and a bunch of competing factors. Not just between 1, 2, and 3, but between Christian thought and other drives. Monasticism alone would probably have a bigger effect than any artificial selection for obedience.

Protestantism and the European wars of religion spun up in what should have been the most docile, domesticated region. Meanwhile, those obedient dogs tore through entire continents of “noble savages.” Their descendants would go on to win two world wars, while Continental philosophers would popularize atheism and argue about successor ideology.

Ugh such an incredible plot point. Why can’t anyone do it as good as Herbert? With AGI on the horizon he’s a god damn prophet.

With AGI on the horizon he’s a god damn prophet.

Even more of a prophet than you probably realize. I once collected every single mention of the Butlerian Jihad from the first four books, which was surprisingly few, about a page of relevant text all together, and apparently it was not about any kind of Skynet type of situation, but the machines naturally forcing the society to be more convenient/predictable/understandable to themselves. Think along the lines of choosing extra classes in college not because of something that interests you but because you know that an AI would consider that when recommending your career, and you know that you'll accept its recommendation because it's the best for you and so on. And with the AIs optimizing the society for predictability it was robbing humanity of its future, kinda like Leto II's plan actually but without the reverse psychology part.

Yep, and farther in the series it's revealed that the prophecy/oracle function is the real key. Oh Herbert where are you when we need you?

Not even Herbert could do it as good as Herbert. Everything I've read by him that wasn't Dune 1-4 was rather meh.

True he must've had some sort of divine inspiration for that series. It's truly remarkable.

A vision of the future, perhaps, while tripping balls out on the Pacific coast.

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