Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of
Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and
Speaker 1: this is the Artifact, a short form series from Stuff
Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind, focusing on particular objects, ideas, and
Speaker 1: moments in time. Though this week we should be considering
Speaker 1: an artifact from the fictional universe of Frank Herbert's June novels.
Speaker 1: Under Hearken and Rule, the death tripod became a common
Speaker 1: sight and a common symbol of tyranny on the planet Aracus.
Speaker 1: While the death tripod is not described in tremendous detail,
Speaker 1: the terror and weight of the concept is sufficiently conveyed.
Speaker 1: Aracus is a desert world, and so when the Hearken
Speaker 1: and oppressors wish to make an example by execution, they
Speaker 1: would leave the bodies for all to see on the
Speaker 1: death tripod. It is unclear, at least to this reader,
Speaker 1: if a death tripod is merely a means of displaying
Speaker 1: the bodies of the executed, much like various pikes and
Speaker 1: gibbets and human history, or if the tripod structure is
Speaker 1: itself a means of execution, functioning like a gallows or
Speaker 1: a structure for crucifixion. One assumes they are imported or
Speaker 1: made of imported or repurposed parts. At any rate, the
Speaker 1: use of the death tripod would seem necessitated, at least
Speaker 1: in the cruel minds of the Hearkenings, by the planet's
Speaker 1: sandy ground conditions and lack of trees, But the symbol
Speaker 1: of the death tripod ultimately transcends this usage and comes
Speaker 1: to refer to collective efforts of vengeance, in which three
Speaker 1: individuals work against an enemy. I am a naive, says
Speaker 1: the fremen stillgar, never to be taken alive. I am
Speaker 1: a leg of the death Tripod that will destroy our foes.
Speaker 1: Tripods also factor heavily into the novel as a means
Speaker 1: of understanding the delicate balance of power within the broader empire.
Speaker 1: The three legs of the political tripod and Dune are
Speaker 1: the Patashah Emperor, the Spacing Guild, and the lands Rod,
Speaker 1: all of more or less equal power. The Emperor is,
Speaker 1: of course, the ruler of the interstellar Imperium, backed by
Speaker 1: his legions of elite Sardakar warriors. The Spacing Guild controls
Speaker 1: a complete monopoly on space travel through the Imperium, and
Speaker 1: the lands Rod is a collective composed of the various
Speaker 1: great houses in the feudal Dune universe. And yet we
Speaker 1: are also told quote in politics, the tripod is the
Speaker 1: most unstable of all structures in the world of done.
Speaker 1: This initially refers to the fact that, amid the lands Rod,
Speaker 1: the Spacing Guild, and the Emperor, each quote unquote leg
Speaker 1: of the tripod is simultaneously in league with and opposed
Speaker 1: to the other two legs. The Emperor cannot become too
Speaker 1: powerful because the Guild and the lands Rod keep him
Speaker 1: in But at the same time, the Spacing Guild cannot
Speaker 1: become too powerful because the Emperor and the lands Rode
Speaker 1: keep them in check. And so forth. It's a delicate balance,
Speaker 1: and if things become unbalanced, then two sides might move
Speaker 1: against the third. We of course, have historical examples to
Speaker 1: turn to here on Earth various rules of three, from
Speaker 1: the Triumvirates of Rome to notable examples in Chinese and
Speaker 1: Russian history, amid many others, but we also see the
Speaker 1: basic dynamics of the political tripod borne out in game theory.
Speaker 1: Many of the more famous problems in game theories, such
Speaker 1: as the prisoners dilemma, relate to two player games. These
Speaker 1: are often the simplest models of conflict on which to ruminate,
Speaker 1: but as Roger A. McCain describes in the two thousand
Speaker 1: four book Game Theory, three player games are also important
Speaker 1: for two reasons. Number One, they're just one step of
Speaker 1: complexity beyond two player games, but often entail complexities that
Speaker 1: then translate into games with even or players. And then secondly,
Speaker 1: they enable two players to gain up on a third.
Speaker 1: In short, they allow for alliances. You've probably encountered some
Speaker 1: examples of this playing three player competitive board games. Take
Speaker 1: Settlers of Katan, for example, what do players one and
Speaker 1: two do when player three appears to be in the lead.
Speaker 1: Why they gang up on them, of course? And then
Speaker 1: what happens when player two moves into the lead, why
Speaker 1: the alliance is likely to shift. This very roughly illustrates
Speaker 1: the instability of the political tripod. The power balance in Dune,
Speaker 1: and certainly the power balance in real world scenarios, is
Speaker 1: generally far more complicated than a friendly game of Katan,
Speaker 1: but you get the picture. I'm not sure to what
Speaker 1: extent Herbert intended us to contemplate connections between unstable political
Speaker 1: tripods and the death tripod. Itself, but certainly the hearkening
Speaker 1: approach to power and governance proves unstable. In the end,
Speaker 1: It's appetite for cruelty and its thirst for power eventually
Speaker 1: leads to its demise. Tune in for additional episodes of
Speaker 1: The Artifact or The Monster Fact each week. As always,
Speaker 1: you can email us at contact it's Stuff to Blow
Speaker 1: your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts for
Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.