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--- lb:dune [2025-09-06 05:51:35] – [Buddislam] ninjasr
+++ lb:dune [2025-09-06 06:11:38] (current) – [Mentats] ninjasr
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 ==== Mentats ====
 I think the concept of the Mentat is stupid and practically stupid as well.
+Mentats are often described as human computers or human calculators...but that description isn't entirely accurate. They are more like a walking spreadsheet.\\
+This is because they can ‘hold’ a vast amount of data, make massive calculations and even do analysis of that data...which they can then calculate and so on.
+The problem is that they //aren't// a computer and, in fact, lack many of the advantages of a computer that actually make them useful. To be fair, when Frank Herbert wrote Dune, many of the advantages of microcomputers weren't visible because they didn't exist...but, in hindsight, it's pretty clear that the Mentat doesn't work.
+To explain why, let me direct you to the humble spreadsheet. The thing about a spreadsheet is that a human can totally make a spreadsheet in the real world. All you need is a whiteboard (or just a sufficiently large wall; or some paper), some chalk and then the data you're putting into it. Then you just have to manually draw the table, the values in each cell and you can even draw a nice graph to visualize the data.\\
+A Mentat could do all of this as well, but they have the advantage of being able to calculate all those values much faster than anyone else.\\
+Now let's change a single value in a single cell.\\
+The problem you face now is that, if you did it right, that one value is tied to many many other cells, so you have to manually recalculate all of it. In real life, this could take hours...or days...or weeks.\\
+But that was for normal humans. A Mentat can recalculate much faster. And, sure, they //can//...but they still have to manually re-write all the values and manually re-draw that graph, right? Even if we set aside the fact a Mentat has solved the //biggest// bottle-neck, the Mentat has //not// solved the //other// major bottle-neck.
+This is why I'm skeptical as to how useful a Mentat would actually prove to be in practice. Because, sure, an individual Mentat can do a lot of data analysis and whatever...but they still have to //share// that data with other people. They are humans who work for other humans, right? As far as I know, there is no such thing as a monitor that a Mentat can project their thoughts into in the Dune universe...so how do they actually go about sharing all that data?\\
+I think the assumption is that a Mentat is a bit like a simple calculator, in that you're only ever expected to get one value out at a time. But then the practical limitations of a Mentat become clear.
+This actually shows why some factions skirt around and ultimately ignore the Butlerian Jihad's traditions...because Mentats would be practically useless in a lot of scenarios.
+This also doesn't get into the other major issue of the Mentats, which is that they're effectively no different from a pocket calculator...except worse. How are humans supposed to become self-reliant if they become reliant upon a walking human to do their calculations for them?\\
+This wouldn't be an issue if the abilities of Mentats was something most humans could learn...but, as it is, it's identical to the outsourcing of human //things// to machines.
 ==== Sandworm ====
 Yeah, I find the Sandworm to be really interesting. Though I probably won't elaborate for a while.