Editing Frank Herbert (section)

==Ideas and themes==
Frank Herbert used his science fiction novels to explore complex<ref>"With its blend (or sometimes clash) of complex [[intellectual]] [[discourse]] and [[Byzantine]] intrigue, ''Dune'' provided a template for FH's more significant later works. Sequels soon began to appear which carried on the arguments of the original in testingly <!-- ? --> various manners and with an intensity of discourse seldom encountered in the sf field. ''Dune Messiah'' (1969) elaborates the intrigue at the cost of other elements, but ''Children of Dune'' (1976) recaptures much of the strength of the original work and addresses another recurrent theme in FH's work – the evolution of Man, in this case into SUPERMAN;..." "Frank Herbert", ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction''.</ref> ideas involving [[philosophy]], [[religion]], [[psychology]], [[politics]] and [[ecology]]. The underlying thrust of his work was a fascination with the question of human survival and [[evolution]]. Herbert has attracted a dedicated fan base, many of whom have attempted to read everything he wrote (fiction or non-fiction); indeed, such was the devotion of some of his readers that Herbert was at times asked if he was founding a [[cult]],<ref name="Genesis">{{cite web|last=Herbert|first=Frank|date=July 1980|title=''Dune'' Genesis|url=http://www.frankherbert.org/news/genesis.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107220342/http://www.frankherbert.org/news/genesis.html|archive-date=January 7, 2012|access-date=February 14, 2014|work=[[Omni (magazine)|Omni]]|publisher=FrankHerbert.org}}</ref> a proposition which he very much rejected.

There are a number of key themes found in Herbert's work:
* A concern with leadership: Herbert explored the human tendency to slavishly submit to [[charisma]]tic leaders. He delved into both the flaws and potentials of [[bureaucracy]] and government.<ref name="gm" />
* Herbert was among the first science fiction authors to popularize ideas about ecology<ref>McNeilly, Willis E.
"Herbert, Frank (Patrick)" in [[James Gunn (author)|Gunn, James]]. ''The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction''.
London, Viking, 1988. (pp. 222–24) {{ISBN|0-670-81041-X}} . "Herbert felt strongly about many
causes, particularly ecology&nbsp;..."</ref> and [[systems thinking]]. He stressed the need for humans to think both [[holistic]]ally and with regards to the long-term.<ref>"When I was quite young&nbsp;... I began to suspect there must be flaws in my sense of reality&nbsp;... But I had been produced to focus on objects (things) and not on systems (processes)." Frank Herbert, "Doll Factory, Gun Factory", (1973 Essay), reprinted in ''The Maker of Dune: Thoughts of a Science Fiction Master'' edited by Tim O'Reilly. [[Berkley Books]], 1987, {{ISBN|0425097854}}.</ref>
* The relationship between religion, politics and [[power (sociology)|power]].<ref>"Frank Herbert's true stroke of
genius consisted&nbsp;... in inviting a way of thinking about humanity, history, religion, and politics as complex and interdependent as [[ecosystem]]s themselves". Jeffery Nicholas, ''Dune and Philosophy: Weirding Way of Mentat''. Open Court Publishing, 2011, {{ISBN|0812697154}}, (p.&nbsp;149).</ref>
* Human survival and adaptation: Herbert writes of the [[Fremen]], the [[Sardaukar]], and the [[The Dosadi Experiment|Dosadi]], who are molded by their terrible living conditions into dangerous super races.<ref>{{Cite web|date=July 3, 2015|title=Dune, 50 years on: how a science fiction novel changed the world|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/03/dune-50-years-on-science-fiction-novel-world|access-date=October 27, 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref>
* Human possibilities and potential: Herbert offered [[Mentat]]s, the [[Bene Gesserit]] and the [[Bene Tleilax]] as different visions of human potential.
* The nature of [[sanity]] and [[Mental illness|madness]]. Frank Herbert was interested in the work of [[Thomas Szasz]] and the [[anti-psychiatry]] movement. Often, Herbert poses the question, "''What is sane?''", and while there are clearly examples of insane behavior and psychopathy to be found in his works (as evinced by characters such as [[Piter De Vries]]), it is often suggested that normal and abnormal are relative terms which humans are sometimes ill-equipped to apply to one another, especially on the basis of statistical regularity.<ref name="gm" />
* The possible effects and consequences of [[consciousness]]-altering chemicals, such as [[Melange (fictional drug)|the spice]] in the ''Dune'' saga, as well as the 'Jaspers' fungus in ''[[The Santaroga Barrier]]'', and the [[Kelp]] in the [[Destination: Void universe#WorShip novels|Destination: Void]] sequence.<ref name="gm" />
* How language shapes thought. More specifically, Herbert was influenced by [[Alfred Korzybski]]'s ''[[General Semantics]]''.<ref>O'Reilly, Tim. ''Frank Herbert''. New York, NY: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., Inc. ,1981. (pp.59–60) {{ISBN|0-8044-2666-X}} . "Much of the Bene Gesserit technology of consciousness is based on the insights of general semantics, a philosophy and training method developed in the 1930s by [[Alfred Korzybski]]. Herbert had studied general semantics in San Francisco at about the time he was writing ''Dune''. (At one point, he worked as a [[ghostwriter]] for a nationally syndicated column by [[S. I. Hayakawa]], one of the foremost proponents of general semantics.)"</ref> [[Algis Budrys]] wrote that Herbert's knowledge of language and [[linguistics]] was 'worth at least one PhD and the Chair of [[Philology]] at a good New England college'.<ref name="budrys196604">{{Cite magazine|last=Budrys|first=Algis|date=April 1966|title=Galaxy Bookshelf|url=https://archive.org/stream/Galaxy_v24n04_1966-04#page/n33/mode/1up|magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction|pages=67–75}}</ref>
* [[Learning]], teaching, and [[thinking]].<ref name="gm" />

Frank Herbert refrained from offering his readers formulaic answers to many of the questions he explored.<ref name="gm" />