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"I think we could solve our problems more easily through strength of character; but that's always been a commodity in extremely short supply."
- Gregory Benford
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| Ghola | ||
| A living, functioning person who is regrown or recreated from the tissues of a dead person. |
An interesting word; invented by Herbert. It calls to mind words like ghoul (reanimated dead person), ghost and golem (an artificial person made of clay, and then animated by magic). The ghola Duncan Idaho is one of the main characters of the story.
The Bene Tleilax are the only guild or group in the Imperium that uses genetics and gene-manipulation on human beings, and they are distrusted accordingly. They treat human flesh as raw material, building blocks for masterpieces nature never intended. There is an almost medieval flavor to the attitude against them; the forebears of modern doctors had to practice on cadavers in secret, because of religious prejudice against the desecration of the bodily temple.
| It could not be Duncan, and yet it was.
..There could only be one answer; this was a Tleilaxu ghola, a being reconstructed from the dead flesh of the original. That original had perished saving Paul. This could only be a product of the axolotl tanks. ...The Bene Tleilax held little attachment to phenomenal nature. Good and evil carried strange meanings in their philosophy. What might they have incorporated in [Duncan] Idaho's flesh - out of design or whim? |
| From Dune Messiah,
by Frank Herbert. Published by Putnam in 1969 Additional resources -
|
I can't really give more without telling one of the main themes of the story, but let's just say that the Bene Tleilax do not consider their Duncan Idaho to be finished. You get the sense that the Bene Tleilax are constantly researching and constantly testing to push the boundaries of what is possible with technology. Their only concerns about morality are their concerns about any tool that can be used to shape a person (or a ghola).
The word "ghola" may also have been derived from the Seljuk Turkish term "Ghulam." A ghulam was a slave (by definition, a non-Muslim) educated and trained for state service. This has interesting overtones, since it is assumed that the ghola is a tool of the Tleilaxu. (Thanks, David!)
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| Targeted Neuroplasticity Training For 'Downloading Skills' |
| Will The FDA Approve This Antiaging Drug? |
| EVE Artificial Womb For Lambs (For Now) |
| Bees Royal Jelly Helps Wounds Heal Faster |
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Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
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'...a 2045 convertible with a Hennis-Carleton positronic motor and an Armat chassis.'
'You can hook a Thorsen tube into a control circuit... and the tube will "remember" what was done and can direct the operation...'
Nature is a master of fabricating structured materials consisting of living and non-living components.
'The tiny devices chirped their impulse codes at one another...'
Then some unknown race had chanced upon the dreamers and decided to "help them out."
'Improving man by bringing him close to Nature, while they combine the sensations of coasting with the interest of seeing the country well...'
Um, how about that pension for the humans who serve as the models for robot behavior?
