We do not understand just how the Kwisatz Haderach actually "operated." The Bene Tleilax experiment left no substantial clues, for instance. They may have shut down their project because the prototype failed their "human" test, or because it disobeyed them, or because it had no ancestral memories. Nor is the nature of ancestral memory entirely clear. The Bene Gesserit considered it essential, but Paul did not possess it. Alia did, but she was not a Kwisatz Haderach. Leto II brought ancestral memory under control, but his voices instructed him to avoid the abyss of prescience-addiction and the route of Kwisatz Haderachism. The entire episode of the Kwisatz Haderach is strewn with this kind of inversion of expectation and outcome.
The schools of the old Imperium are still full of disputation on this whole matter. Obviously, we can not sift all these questions to the bran – whether knowledge of the future constrains us necessarily to do a thing ("necessarily" meaning simple compulsion); or whether free choice is granted us to do a thing or not to do it, although the outcome was foreknown; or whether foreknowledge constrains not at all except by a conditional necessity. We are completely certain of only one thing: neither we nor our descendants can possibly experience the Kwisatz Haderach's prescience. Our culture is reflexively scared of the temptations that lead to prescience-addiction. Also, the exact matrix of genetic variables and conditioning environment that produced Paul cannot happen again by accident. Furthermore, we know better than to try to reproduce those conditions. Therefore, we undertake without hesitation to understand how the Kwisatz Haderach actually operated. Because it is useful to know as much as possible about even what is forbidden, and because there are some concepts that can help us understand what the Kwisatz Haderach did, we venture to explain what happened when the Kwisatz Haderach controlled the future. Two of the concepts come from compartments within the ancient field of physics, now a subset of Systemics, and one is from a rudimentary segment of the infinity calculus.
Relativistic physics suggests how a Kwisatz Haderach could "shorten the way" and gain knowledge of a future. Time, as we know, has no reference point. Any place that observes recurring events can discover and measure "time" — local time — in terms of patterns of event repetition. Orbital motion, change from dark to light and back to dark, vegetation followed by blossoms followed by fruit and seeds are familiar examples of repeating patterns. Dependable information about such repetitions, and thus about time, comes from light, whose speed is constant. If one could travel at the speed of light, one could gather all information about all local time references. This collection would include information about what would have been the futures of all localities. It would be available from the absolute vantage point of light-speed travel. Paul Muad'Dib Atreides apparently could be in "many places at once," was able to achieve a mystico-magical fusion with the speed of light/thought/information. Thus he carried out the ultimate "shortening of the way" between all local time frames. His reports about the Alam al-Mithal, where all physical limitations are removed, seem to support this hypothesis. In his deepest trances, Paul felt dislocated, rootless. He sensed no position, no place, no orienting permanence. Some kind of merger with the Absolute is implied, and therefore a complementary disconnection from Other. Paul had to fight his way back from the Alam al-Mithal, to some Place where he could refer to Other, because connections with and references to Other are necessary if there is to be Self.
Relativistic physics offers a clue to what the Kwisatz Haderach did, even though it does not fully explain how he accomplished his mysticomagical leap into the abyss of the Absolute. The extent of our ignorance about the process is underscored by the decline of those physics. Even Harq al-Ada recorded his reservations: "Either we abandon the long-honored Theory of Relativity, or we cease to believe that we can engage in continued accurate prediction of the future." The Kwisatz Haderach appears to have glimpsed, and temporarily frozen, a relativistic path into the future. What he could not have known, when he made that valiant effort, was that the two paths he saw and "knew" were not the only futures. He could not know that in limiting himself and our species to one of them he was locking us away from virtually infinite options.
The second subset of ancient physics, connected with "uncertainty," does not permit even accurate knowledge of the Absolute that the Kwisatz Haderach appears to have believed he encountered. Yet concepts from uncertainty physics, rather loosely applied, do help us understand the youthful Paul's difficulty in seeing himself in his visions of the future. As is well known, it is impossible to know both the position and momentum of a subatomic particle. The more confident one becomes about knowing one condition, the less one knows about the other. When Paul attempted to see his own position on the rippling landscape of his prescience, the energy deflections of his information-garnering effort prevented his feeding through to a fixed picture of a future situation. The universe remained contingent; he could see surroundings but, because his knowing what was to become of himself permitted a choice that could change that outcome, he could not know. As Systemics has taught, but Paul did not realize, there is an information analogue to quantum-level uncertainty physics.
The uncertainty paradigm also helps us understand what happened as Paul matured and became addicted to prescience. In our random universe, anything can happen. In fact, as the infinity calculus shows, everything does happen. It was unlikely that Paul would be able to see himself in the future, but he did. It was more unlikely that he could "shorten the way" according to relativistic physics, but he did. It was impossible for him to narrow the spread of optional futures to two (let alone to think of options within the concept future), but the Kwisatz Haderach did that too. He went even further: he rejected one of the alternatives he saw and determined the other one. Such a narrowing of probabilities to one certainty is incredibly unlikely, but the nature of the Accidental Universe requires that certitude be one possibility.
Finally, the infinity calculus helps us grasp quickly the magnitude of the Kwisatz Haderach's boldness and the essence of his error. The familiar idea of temporal matrices contains n-aggregates of n-points in n-dimensions. At every instant it is possible for the matrix to change n! ways. All possibilities do occur; a new temporal matrix evolves instantaneously. Again, all possibilities happen. The Kwisatz Haderach possessed a different, severely limited, notion. It was conditioned by the concepts cause-and-effect and inevitability. Within this conception his prescience saw one sequence of possibilities, picturing it as branches in two (or perhaps three) dimensions. The branching sequence included several highly probable paths. The Kwisatz Haderach narrowed his prescient focus to two alternatives, and actually selected one that appeared preferable! By willing the restriction of probability, he cut himself off from seeing the rest of the entire temporal matrix. His conviction that there would be a single future was powerful enough to constrict the matrix; for him to deny accident was enough to insure that there would be no accidents. This improbable restriction was one of the possible sequences within the Accidental Universe; what the Kwisatz Haderach could not have known (having limited his prescience by narrowing and sharpening its focus) was that the chosen branch led to a dead end. The Kwisatz Haderach did not know the infinity calculus; if he had, he would not have tried to deny it. If he had not tried to deny it, however, we might never have learned it.
As the Kwisatz Haderach, Paul Muad'Dib Atreides made choices. They sometimes turned out to be the wrong choices, but they were nevertheless good choices. Combining good and wrong this way is not really paradoxical. His choices were good because they were freely made, based on his best understanding of what would happen as a consequence of his choosing. They were moral. But they turned out, in retrospect, to have been wrong. Or so we say, with hindsight, because Leto II said so and because we are inheritors of Leto's tradition and are locked into that heritage. Paul chose well, but Paul was wrong. Deductive logic presses these questions: How could Paul have been wrong? He "saw the future as now." Didn't he know all there was to know?
&n
bsp; The answers to these questions are context-bound. Yes, he knew all there was for him to know, but there were some matters that could not have been known until after he had made his great effort. He stepped beyond the limited "now" of most mortals, through a door and into a corridor that he knew to be "the " future (although it was actually just "a" future) because it was the only future he could see. He could look ahead and back from any position along that single corridor. He committed himself and the Empire to that corridor, that single path from that single point in that single dimension. And he was trapped on that path. In spite of his transcendent vision he could not see outside of his cage. There were other corridors, infinitely more corridors, paralleling and diverging from the one he knew. Although he could sense other oracles and other futures even as he chose to bind his universe, his choice of one certainty blinded him to the other contingencies. Because he saw so much, he could not realize how blind he was.
So the paradox disappears. Paul chose. That was good. He chose a single corridor, believing that it was the only corridor that led where he wished humanity to go. That was wrong. He did not know, could not have known, that he was wrong when he made the choice. Now, thanks to his boldness, we possess the wisdom of Leto II, the infinity calculus, and our abhorrence of prophecy. Without his error we might not have any of them, or be here to appreciate our good fortune.
The career of the Kwisatz Haderach makes a bittersweet story. The Bene Gesserit sought him for generations. He reconciled fundamental contraries. He went many-places-at-once and shortened the way and controlled the future. But prophesying became addictive; his free choice prevented freedom of choice; knowing the "now" almost eliminated the future of humanity. As survivors we can be pleased that the Kwisatz Haderach experimented with prescience, and everlastingly thankful that his experiments were failures. Essentially, our reconstruction of Paul Atreides' story is a cautionary tale. Its immediate consequence, in the time of Leto II and thereafter, was abhorrence of prescience. Long hidden and now revealed, the story helps us respect the challenges of the unpredictable.
E. J.
Further references: ATREIDES, LETO II; ATREIDES, PAUL; IDAHO, DUNCAN.
ATREIDES, PAUL MUAD'DIB
To attempt a discussion of the life of Paul Atreides is to confront immediately the entire issue of fact versus fiction. While few scholars would dare to suggest that no such person ever lived, most dispute the accuracy of the tales purporting to recite his accomplishments. It has, in fact, become rather popular among many historians to write lengthy articles and even books which "debunk" the legends and superstitions that have arisen concerning him. Interestingly, all of these writings are based on a single report written in 11673 by the important anthropological historian Neja N'Nam-Krib who claimed that Paul Atreides could not have been a blood son of Duke Leto Atreides I nor could he have accomplished most of the great things attributed to him. What is continually forgotten by these historians is that the report was written by a hireling of the Archbishop Spil whose own power was on the wane because of the legends associated with Paul. These legends were a constant source of rebellion against the Archbishop's own attempts to control the hearts and minds of his followers, and, therefore, he obviously needed some report which would prove that Paul Atreides was neither noble-born nor more than a rather gifted military strategist.
But such a view flies in the face of any logical explanation of what we do know of that era some five thousand, five hundred years in our past. The Second Jihad and the Fremen role in it are historical facts. The brief flowering of the desert planet Arrakis is well documented. And the existence of Leto Atreides II, the God Emperor of Dune, cannot be denied. How can each of these be explained without accepting many of what are now considered the legends of Paul Muad'Dib? Thus, it will be the purpose of this brief article to illustrate just how well and how consistently these legends explain the history of the worlds in general and the events on Arrakis in particular.
First, as to the birth and lineage of Paul Atreides. Stories told by the Fremen, affirmed by Leto II in his ridulian crystals, and corroborated by the House Corrino historians Irulan Corrino-Atreides and Harq al-Ada insist that Paul Atreides was the son of Duke Leto Atreides I (10140-10191) and his concubine, the Lady Jessica Harkonnen (10154-10256). Moreover, there is precise agreement in all three sources concerning his birthdate: 10175. But these sources are not the only reasons for believing that Paul was of House Atreides. The actions of the Fremen of Sietch-Tabr can only be understood if Paul was an off-worlder and had undergone the education afforded by being noble-born and of House Atreides.
According to Fremen culture, Stilgar, the Naib of Sietch-Tabr, should have put both Paul and the Lady Jessica to death upon finding them in the desert after the assassination of Duke Leto. They were a threat to the sietch in two ways: first, if left alive, the two might lead rivals to the vicinity of the sietch; second, as off-worlders unfamiliar with the ways of survival in the desert, they would be a drain on the resources of the sietch. There was, moreover, a rather positive reason for killing them as well: the water recovered from their dead bodies would augment the supplies of the sietch.
Many historians believe that the fact that neither Paul nor Lady Jessica were killed is confirmation of the theory that the two people so named in the sources were not of House Atreides but themselves natives of Sietch-Tabr. They reason that no other explanation could justify Stilgar's behavior. But in opting for this simplest of explanations, these historians forever muddy the waters of all later events. Given Paul's lineage as that of a simple Fremen, why would members of the other sietches ever cast their lot with him? The cultural and political development of the Fremen in the year 10191 does not allow for a sudden combining of all the forces of all the sietches, even against a common enemy. No, the Fremen were too well-organized into sietches at that time for such concerted action. And, most important, the tau, or oneness of a Fremen sietch was not the tau of the entire Fremen peoples. Such oneness was flatly impossible to achieve given their nature.
For the Fremen to rally under the banner of a single hero demanded that that hero not be of an alien tau, and not be too closely associated with a single sietch. Paul Muad'Dib as a blood member of House Atreides fulfills the necessary conditions perfectly. Consider that as the son of Duke Leto, Paul would have been trained by the finest warriors of the age: Duncan Idaho and Gurney Halleck. Moreover, his tutor would have been the Zensunni mentat Thufir Hawat, a man who, given the fact that the Fremen themselves come from a Zensunni background, was in a unique position to give young Paul that cast of mind that would fit in well with Fremen thought and belief.
Moreover, one must remember that Paul was the result of the Bene Gesserit breeding program for which most accurate records now exist. The Lady Jessica betrayed that program by having Paul instead of a daughter. Paul Atreides was, in other words, the result of a program that had been going on for thousands of years, a being who was to embody all the powers of the Bene Gesserit and beyond. Whether Paul Atreides was literally the Kwisatz Haderach or not is, of course, debatable. However, it should be quite clear to all who would see that within Paul stood the essence of the ultimate warrior-chief (House Atreides) and the master politician (House Harkonnen). Such a man could and did rally the Fremen, and lead the Second Jihad. No other man could have, because the Fremen simply would not have followed.
Finally, even if the breeding records did not exist (one might term them fabrications along the lines of the three sources already mentioned), there is still reason to believe that the Lady Jessica was Paul's natural mother. It is obvious from the events surrounding Paul Muad'Dib that he had the powers of Voice and could practice the Litany against Fear. Where else could he have obtained such training except from a Bene Gesserit adept? And why would a member of the Sisterhood give a boy such thorough training unless he were her son?
To conclude this section of the article then, it must be reasonable to accept Paul as Atreides-born. No other theory so com
fortably and consistently explains the known facts of the Fremen and the rebellion of Arrakis that lead to the Second Jihad.
What then of Paul Atreides' actions in the years 10191 through 10193? While it is true that not much is known about him during this period, it would be foolish to conclude that this lack of information proves that Paul is more legend than man. While many historians who specialize in ancient history and myths are quick to point out that such gaps are part of mythic patterns that avoid stretching credibility by silence, they are guilty of rushing to conclusions simply because Paul's life at that time runs parallel to the pattern of myth. Does this mean that whenever fiction successfully imitates reality, the reality must be considered fiction? Such a statement is, of course, absurd.
It is not hard to see that there existed understandable reasons for this gap. Paul, like the Fremen, was being hunted by the Harkonnen and the Padishah Shaddam IV (10134 — 10202). While both thought Paul and the Lady Jessica were dead, there was no hard evidence for this supposition and there was, most certainly, every reason for Paul to conceal his existence. Moreover, why would the Fremen want to keep records of the life of Paul during this period? They were not a writing-oriented people nor would they have been aware of the cosmic significance of what was happening in those two years.
But there are overwhelming grounds for believing that what Paul Atreides did during that time was indeed the stuff of legends; that is, his accomplishments were so awe-inspiring in the eyes of the Fremen that the stories they told were like legends. And why would they not be? Paul Atreides, now Muad'Dib, proved himself to partake of Fremen world view and to surpass it. His personal magnetism gathered warriors from every sietch and created the Fedaykin. And then, in 10193, he led the Fedaykin out of the desert and in a single stroke destroyed the combined forced of House Corrino and House Harkonnen. How could one man create tau among all the sietches of Arrakis, and then turn a group of warriors once devoted to resisting change into a force that changed not only their own planet, but every known world in the Imperium and beyond? To say such a man was a military genius with the ability to inspire fanatic devotion in his followers is to understate the case. Yes, Muad'Dib was all of this. But he must have been much more. So magnetic was his personality, so great must have been his deeds, that he was able to convince an entire people devoted to "the ways of the fathers" that Muad'Dib's way was that way. The Fremen were indeed a superstitious people, but those superstitions were a powerful force of conservatism. A man could not simply walk into a Fremen sietch and state that he was the fulfillment of their beliefs. The Fremen would need proof, and wonderous proof it would have had to have been. Thus, the very fact that Muad'Dib was able to form the Fedaykin and smash two powerful armies is compelling evidence for the many stories that exist concerning his life among the Fremen. Specific stories may, indeed, be fictional, but the general nature of the events that are described must be true.
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