Mentat
A Mentat is an occupation and title that features in Dune.
Contents |
History
Mentats were humans with a high degree of cognitive thinking and capacity for computer-like calculations. Their origins were traced to the aftermath of the Butlerian Jihad when computers and other forms of thinking technology were banned due to the Orange Catholic Bible's commandment against thinking machines.
Overview
The Mentat discipline was developed as a replacement for computerized calculation.
More than simply calculators, Mentats possessed exceptional cognitive abilities of memory and perception that are the foundations for supra-logical hypothesizing. Mentats were able to sift large volumes of data and devise concise analyses in a process that goes far beyond logical deduction. A Mentat cultivated 'the naïve mind' which was the mind without preconception or prejudice, so as to extract essential patterns or logic from data and deliver useful conclusions with varying degrees of certainty. Their calculations were delivered not as numerical probabilities but as flowing paths, subject to new variations through the influence of new factors.
Among the Great Houses, Mentats had served important roles as political advisors where their vast memories and ability to organise huge amounts of data meant that they could provide valuable insight to their masters.
Members
- Gilbertus Albans : male human who was the first to display cognitive thinking and computer-like calculation capacity who founded the Order of the Mentats.
- Thufir Hawat : a male human who served as Mentat and Master of Assassins to House Atreides where he was in service to Duke Leto Atreides.
- Piter de Vries :
Notes
- Mentats were created by Frank Herbert and featured in the setting of the Dune universe.
In other media
Television
Films
Video games
Appearances
- Dune:
External Link
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