I think a Butlerian Jihad is inevitable given the course our present dystopia appears to be taking. I don't think it will be so united and rule-bound as the one Herbert envisioned, but different groups and subcultures will find different ways of "opting out" of technological enslavement, and those groups and subcultures will loosely connect to form alternate societies, economies, and institutions. Already there is a big back-to-the-land movement, much bigger than that of the 70s, though no one calls it that.
Many people want to live as off-grid as possible, to become as self-sufficient as possible, and to form small, tight-knit farming communities. I don't think they will give up their tractors, though, and probably not even their smart phones, from which they can automate various farm tasks and upload videos of their homestead projects to earn a little side income.
Soon we will probably see religious-driven movements that seek to cut all ties with modern technology, a sort of post-modern Amish experiment. They will claim that technology is of the devil, or at least that it prevents knowledge of God or union with Christ, and they will return to the ways of pre-industrial age living.
Still others will attempt to re-imagine the parameters of technology, to make it serve humanity instead of humanity serving it. To salvage the positive aspects--the saving of labor, the effortless connecting to others regardless of distance, the infinite storage capabilities--with the user at the helm rather than the user as product. This will be difficult and not many people will jump on board because to be truly in control of your technology means to know and care about a lot of things that most people would rather not bother with.
But all of these groups will find useful connections with the others as the majority of humanity begins to check into permanent digital vacations. The back-to-landers will trade with the post-Amish, who will rely on the cyberpunks to get their messages to loved ones back in "society". All of them will be targeted or punished in various ways by states, or basically cut off from society, transportation, etc. simply because they have no digital papers implanted in their skulls with which to satisfy the Powers at skull-scanning checkpoints.
Eventually, one of two things happens: either the Butlerians die out and become a curious historical footnote in the story of the rise of machines, or some great cataclysm happens and the Butlerians are the only ones who know how to survive, and are responsible for saving the human race.
Thanks for your post. I’m a huge fan of Dune having read it three times in the last 20 years. I’ve never read anything so creative and complex combining religion, ecology, politics and government. I recently discovered and read with great interest an out of print biography of Dune’s author Frank Herbert by the publisher of O’Reilly (Tim O’Reilly) which provided much insight into his creation of Dune as well as many other of his works I’ve yet to read. Here is a link:
I think a Butlerian Jihad is inevitable given the course our present dystopia appears to be taking. I don't think it will be so united and rule-bound as the one Herbert envisioned, but different groups and subcultures will find different ways of "opting out" of technological enslavement, and those groups and subcultures will loosely connect to form alternate societies, economies, and institutions. Already there is a big back-to-the-land movement, much bigger than that of the 70s, though no one calls it that.
Many people want to live as off-grid as possible, to become as self-sufficient as possible, and to form small, tight-knit farming communities. I don't think they will give up their tractors, though, and probably not even their smart phones, from which they can automate various farm tasks and upload videos of their homestead projects to earn a little side income.
Soon we will probably see religious-driven movements that seek to cut all ties with modern technology, a sort of post-modern Amish experiment. They will claim that technology is of the devil, or at least that it prevents knowledge of God or union with Christ, and they will return to the ways of pre-industrial age living.
Still others will attempt to re-imagine the parameters of technology, to make it serve humanity instead of humanity serving it. To salvage the positive aspects--the saving of labor, the effortless connecting to others regardless of distance, the infinite storage capabilities--with the user at the helm rather than the user as product. This will be difficult and not many people will jump on board because to be truly in control of your technology means to know and care about a lot of things that most people would rather not bother with.
But all of these groups will find useful connections with the others as the majority of humanity begins to check into permanent digital vacations. The back-to-landers will trade with the post-Amish, who will rely on the cyberpunks to get their messages to loved ones back in "society". All of them will be targeted or punished in various ways by states, or basically cut off from society, transportation, etc. simply because they have no digital papers implanted in their skulls with which to satisfy the Powers at skull-scanning checkpoints.
Eventually, one of two things happens: either the Butlerians die out and become a curious historical footnote in the story of the rise of machines, or some great cataclysm happens and the Butlerians are the only ones who know how to survive, and are responsible for saving the human race.
Or at least, that's my fiction writer's take.
"our ruling class seems very interested in using machines to ensure their dominion over us."
Dominion would be a great name for a voting system company. Wonder if its taken
Thanks for your post. I’m a huge fan of Dune having read it three times in the last 20 years. I’ve never read anything so creative and complex combining religion, ecology, politics and government. I recently discovered and read with great interest an out of print biography of Dune’s author Frank Herbert by the publisher of O’Reilly (Tim O’Reilly) which provided much insight into his creation of Dune as well as many other of his works I’ve yet to read. Here is a link:
https://www.oreilly.com/tim/herbert/