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