While I support targeted temporary Butlerian Jihads, I’d like people to notice that the Dune universe is an extremely regressive society and this is explicitly downstream of the full Butlerian Jihad
9:58 AM · Jun 8, 2026 · 2.6K Views
Independent researcher Andy Masley argues that complete technological bans like Dune's Butlerian Jihad result in highly regressive societies
Haydn Belfield links these fictional bans to export controls
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Haydn Belfield@HaydnBelfield
@AndyMasley Also chairdogs and creepy and this has implications for export controls
Andy Masley@AndyMasley
While I support targeted temporary Butlerian Jihads, I’d like people to notice that the Dune universe is an extremely regressive society and this is explicitly downstream of the full Butlerian Jihad
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Cory Fitz@cory_fitz
@AndyMasley True butlerian jihad has never been tried
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quetzal_rainbow@quetzal_rainbow
@AndyMasley >this is explicitly downstream of the full Butlerian Jihad
Eh, how? I think Herbert took feudal settings just because it was cool at the time. If there is no intelligent machines and industrial society, laborers get infinite leverage
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quetzal_rainbow@quetzal_rainbow
@AndyMasley Realistic kinda-feudal setting would look like British-German Empire with unlimited victory of social democracy
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