No Dune movie can ever match the books

DUNE has introduced millions of people to a systematic understanding of the world

Systems thinking is powerful. Since Isaac Newton’s The System of the World, systems thinking has been our most powerful tool to understand…the world.

(Systems thinking also has its limitations…topic of a future video essay!)

But most people still do not have access to systems thinking. And a huge amount of the chaos and conflict in our world arises from that lack.

DUNE is a primer in systems thinking. It has introduced millions of people to a systematic understanding of the world via the imaginary world of Arrakis.

Frank Herbert’s DUNE examines 7 levels of systematic understanding in its narrative. In my video essay on Dune I separate these 7 systems to help new readers understand the novel.

Watch the video essay in the Science Fiction channel

PS — the main complaint about any Dune movie, not just Denis’, is that it can’t possibly capture Dune as a work of “systems fiction”. It would have to be 20 hours long and be mostly monologues on political science and ecology. Sure, WE would watch that, but would anyone else??

PPS — if I was going to re-boot science fiction under a new brand for the 21st century, “systems fiction” would be a strong contender.