Above all else, the mentat must be a generalist, not a specialist. It is wise to have decisions of great moment monitored by generalists. Experts and specialists lead you quickly into chaos. They are a source of useless nit-picking, the ferocious quibble over a comma. The mentat-generalist, on the other hand, should bring to decision-making a healthy common sense. He must not cut himself off from the broad sweep of what is happening in his universe. He must remain capable of saying: “There’s no real mystery about this at the moment. This is what we want now. It may prove wrong later, but we’ll correct that when we come to it.” The mentat-generalist must understand that anything which we can identify as our universe is merely a part of larger phenomena. But the expert looks backward; he looks into the narrow standards of his own specialty. The generalist looks outward; he looks for living principles, knowing full well that such principles change, that they develop. It is to the characteristics of change itself that the mentat-generalist must look. There can be no permanent catalogue of such change, no handbook or manual. You must look at it with as few preconceptions as possible, asking yourself: “Now what is this thing doing?” | |
— Frank Herbert | |
From his novel: “Children of Dune“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2015 | Still Dreaming |
2014 | Good Wins |
2013 | Before |
2012 | Look To This Day |
2011 | One View Of Man |
At This Moment
April 16, 2016 by kmabarrett
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Hi Leena,
I’ve had a quick glance at your site and look forward to reading more…
Live long, and prosper!
Kevin
thank you 🙂