Why “Butlerian” is being discussed
The most recent Hacker News stories and comments contributing to this topic's mentions.
I think you're mostly right. Herbert worked backward from sand dunes in Oregon to create his Dune universe. He needed reasons for people to look and act and fight in certain way…
by madrox · Oct 17, 2026
I've said it before, but I always thought the Butlerian Jihad was the biggest plot hole in Dune, because a superintelligent AI would have precluded a lot of the dynamics in the…
by keeda · Oct 17, 2026
I highly recommend Erewhon by Samuel Butler. The author is the namesake for Butlerian Jihad. Interesting book in our times. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ere…
by SarikayaKomzin · Oct 17, 2026
Sigh. I'm just going to repeat verbatim the thing I said immediately after the bit you cherry picked to get upset about: You can make specific arguments about things like backst…
by ajross · Oct 17, 2026
There's a lot that I think you missed in your reading: If you read the preambles to each chapter and the glossary in the back of Dune, you'll find that the Butlerian Jihad was a…
by indymike · Oct 17, 2026
Yes, but it never goes into what actually happened - it's just the belief of the time. And curiously a critical part of Golden Path became a reversal of major Butlerian Jihad ef…
by p_l · Oct 17, 2026
Interest
Proportion of Hacker News items mentioning "butlerian" over time.
Mentions
Total number of Hacker News items mentioning "butlerian" over time.
Butlerian is an eponymous adjective that may refer to:Judith Butler, American philosopher involved with feminism, queer theory, and ethics Samuel Butler (1835–1902), iconoclastic Victorian author Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006), American science fiction author in references to the themes in her books Read more on Wikipedia