Frank Herbert’s God Emperor of Dune is not a prophecy about technology but a meditation on necessity. Leto II Atreides sacrifices his humanity to become the immortal worm who rules humankind for 3,500 years. He is a tyrant by his own design and a self-martyr in service of pedagogy. He becomes the embodiment of controlContinue reading “The Golden Path and the Silicon Limit: How I Learned to Love AI”
Category Archives: Authors
Herbert Hoover and Moral Engineering
Yesterday (October 3, 2025), Heidi and I visited the Hoover–Minthorn House in Newberg, Oregon. The house, built in 1881 by Jesse Edwards, the Quaker founder of Newberg, stands behind a white picket fence, its clapboard walls repainted in pale yellow. Murray Rothbard had already set my prejudice against Hoover, so the visit was a sardonicContinue reading “Herbert Hoover and Moral Engineering”
Gholas and the Eternal Golden Braid
On September 30, 2025, researchers at Oregon Health & Science University announced they had developed functional eggs from human skin cells. Immediately, I thought of Frank Herbert’s gholas.[1] Duncan Idaho is the most-reborn man in Dune. From his first appearance on Arrakis, he is marked as archetype: Swordmaster of Ginaz, sensual, loyal, utterly alive. (JasonContinue reading “Gholas and the Eternal Golden Braid”
Protective Arts 