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After the prolonged victory against robots, mankind has forbidden the construction and use of all machines resembling human intelligence. This leaves mankind to evolve and manipulate the human body into human-thinking machines, bioengineered pilots, and psychic beldams, turning them into tools for lords and houses to rule the Known Universe under a techno-feudal system.

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Our story starts with the Imperial decree transfer planetary ownership of Arrakis and the production of spice from House Harkonnen to House Atreides. Catapulting 15-year-old Paul to the harsh desert planet to meticulously avoid death and espionage while supporting his father's ambition to improve spice production by gandering the respect of the Fremen.

Unfortunately, his father's plans are cut short by the faulty equipment left by House Harkonnen, leaving the Atreides weak and ill-equipped to properly control Arrakis and spice. Treachery ensues after a Harkonnen spy disables the planetary shields, inviting the Harkonnens, with the Emperor's blessing, to invade and slaughter Atreides.

Ordered by the Bene Gesserit not to directly kill Paul and his mother, they instead banish them to the deserts of Arrakis. They fearlessly survive by recycling their waste products and sweat while learning to navigate and walk in the unforgiving deserts.

Stilgar, leader of the local Fremen tribe, discovers Paul and his mother at their breaking point. They prove themselves through one-on-one combat, sandworm riding, and the completion of religious prophecies, his companions recognize him as the Messiah, the Muad'Dib. Stilgar and Chani, his lover, teach Paul the way of Muad'Dib and the deserts, respectively.

Finally, Paul masters his mother's Bene Gesserit training utilizing his psychic control, prescient abilities, and military training. Acknowledging his destiny, he seeks to defeat the Harkonnens and the Emperor, restoring his father's legacy as the God Emperor of Mankind.

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Once an oxygen-rich, green, and wet planet, it is now devastated by harsh winds, heat, deserts, and spice-producing sandworms; presently home to Fremen, Paul, and the rest of House Atreides as they clinch for survival.

Spice: The Most Valuable Resource in the Known Universe, essential for interstellar space travel, used for political and economic power to control parts of the universe. The drug is only produced by giant sandworms in the desert of Arrakis. He who controls the production of spice can control the universe.

Arrakeen: The Desert Capital of Dune, home to the Indigenous Fremen and House Atreides. Known for spice production & seat of the planetary government.

Deserts: Hell of Arrakis, home to the various Freeman Tribes, The Sandworms, extreme temperatures, and harsh sandstorms. Water is limited and sacred; only the Fremen know the ways of the Deserts.

Freeman Bases: Worship and Resistance, hidden settlements established by Fremen tribes. Essential for long-term survival and used as temples and headquarters of resistance operations.

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Dune: History of Arrakis | How the Planet Became Desert

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Vygotsky's theory is inadequate in providing a personal psychological assessment of Paul's identity and character. The main focus points of his teachings are the educational teachings, experiences, and development. It is possible to infer a strong identity assessment from the logic of his learning and upbringing, but there are inadequate scientific tools to provide an in-depth analysis of Paul's actions, motives, thoughts, and beliefs.

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Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) was a Russian and Soviet psychologist. His sociocultural theory is a framework for learning and development based on social interaction and cultural tools in cognitive development. Prioritizing, thinking, learning, social, and cultural constructions; combining innate and learned cognitive functions.

Unfortunately, his theory cannot be spot in learning and development as it's unable to properly integrate new scientific and technological advancement. New technology, such as AI and scientific research methods, greatly improve learning. Vygotsky couldn't integrate this due to his cultural bias and lack of forethought in future advancements. Nonetheless, his theory stands as a great pillar in psychological learning.

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Vygotsky sociocultural development | Individuals and Society | MCAT | Khan Academy

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Dune repeats themes of geopolitics, primarily the use and manipulation of religion and the power that faith can collectively hold.

Behind the scenes and long ago, the Bene Gesserit planted false religions across the Known Universe to be manipulated and used as leverage for their purpose. Paul's mother, a trained Bene Gesserit, skillfully recognized the motif of the Muad'Dib, carefully weaving her son to be the Fremen's Messiah to use their power of faith to avenge her concubine husband and bring strength to her son and his new Empire.

Faith has been commonly used as a casus belli for warfare, invasion, and pillaging. The Romans, Egyptians, Russians, and Germans used their ideologies to persecute Jews in their territory, manipulating the faiths of their citizens to act with anger and hatred toward Jews by mobilizing their citizen's sense of nationalism and pride. Further explains that the Islamic Conquests and Christian Crusades justified invasion and war on the grounds of Faith and God. Dune perfectly captures this theme, as the Bene Gesserit manipulates rogue planets' religion for their personal use. This allows Paul and his mother to mobilize the Fremen, threaten the supply and production of supply, and justify galactic war based on the criteria that Paul is the Muad'Dib, set to restore the Fremen and Arrakis to their former glory.

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Why should you read “Dune” by Frank Herbert? - Dan Kwartler

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Vygotsky's is one the best theories relating character learning and development. However, it falls short in critically analyzing Paul's psychology- how he thinks, feels, the reasons for actions, etc.- it can only truly explain how he developed based on his advisor, circumstances, environment, relations, and culture. Developmental-wise, it's a near-perfect assessment of Paul's upbringing but fails in a personal-identity analysis.

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In conclusion, Paul is not a normal child; he's incredibly gifted, talented, and blessed by psychic-space magic. Overall, Vygotsky's theory provided an accurate representation of his identity and development from Paul Atreides to Paul Muad'Dib. I greatly recommend any psychologist or Dune fan to utilize Vygotsky's theory when analyzing Paul or any character in the series, as the theory logically calculates the character’s culture and background with Vygotsky's learning theories of ZPD and MKO.

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Primary Players & Figures in the Known Universe

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Primary Players & Figures in the Known Universe

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Duke Leto Atreides: Nobel, just, and loving ruler of House Atreides. Inherited planet Arrakis and seeks to rule through peaceful cooperation with the Fremen while ramping up the production of the spice. Ultimately, fails due to the treachery of the Emperor and the Harkonnens invasion.

Baron Vladimir Harkonnen: Tyrannical ruler of House Harkonnen, primary villain and oppressor of the Fremen, and leads to the destruction of House Atreides by sabotaging them with the transfer of Arrakis.

Lady Jessica: Mother to Paul and concubine to the Duke. Member of the powerful Bene Gesserti society. Raised Paul lavishly in the lush oceanic world of Caladan before adapting to the cruel deserts of Arrakis with her son.

Paul Atreides: Protagonist, adolescent, assumed Messiah of Arrakis and the Fremen, and son of the Duke and Lady Jessica. A courageous leader with prescient abilities, he journeys to fulfill his destiny as the Messiah and rebuild his House to become a Galactic Empire.

Stilgar: Leader of the local Fremen Tribe. Values hope, unity, religion, and strength; seeks to take on the Harkonnen oppressor and liberate his people. He takes on Paul and his mother after they earn their spot through a Fremen combat ritual. Now is the mentor and advisor to the young Paul.

Chani: Fremen woman and love interest of Paul, a skilled warrior and traveler in Arrakis. She seeks the removal of foreign spice production, influence, and oppression towards Fremen, fighting for Freman's independence and freedom.

Other Notable Factions & Characters:

Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV: Emperor of the Galactic Empire, holds supreme authority over the known universe; ruthless & corrupt.

Landsraad: Galactic body that represents all 137 Great Houses.

The Bene Gesserit: A matriarchal society & major political, religious, and social force whose members have superhuman physical, sensory, mental, and deductive powers.

The Spacing Guild: A monopoly on interstellar space travel facilitates the transport of troops and trade.

CHOAM: A massive commercial organization that spans the Imperium, regulating the galactic economy; controlled by the Emperor & the Lansraad.

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Vygotsky coined the term More Knowledgeable Other, "MKO" as a person who has greater knowledge of an ability or subject than the learner in question. Examples of MKO are parents, guardians, teachers, mentors, companions, elders, etc.

The MKO provides social instruction within the ZPD; the learners become receptive to the MKO's guidance and experience. Significance value is traded between the parties, especially to the mentee, contributing to their development and subject matter.

For example, Master's students observe and imitate a Ph.D student in the laboratory, business executives consult with professional consultants on their complex subject matter, and coaches pair underperforming athletes to shadow their star athletes in the sports center.

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Father's Death & Destruction of Nobility

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Father's Death & Destruction of Nobility

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The day the shields were sabotaged was the worst in Paul's young life. Witnessing his father's kingdom fall in hours, stripping him of his titles, land, and nobility. This forced Paul in the Desert alone with his mother to survive first and then plan for retribution second.

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Almost slaine by his best men and women, Paul and his mother had to initially earn the respect of Fremen in their combat rituals. Afterward, he had to adapt quickly, with no margin of error, tracking through the desert alone for weeks, riding sandworms, and killing his enemies alone before he could earn his title as Messiah and the trust it came with.

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Paul's pieces of where revenge was aligning, his circumstances massively flourished, but his inclination of love to Chani and the Fremen culture led Paul to want to live as a nomadic Fremen with his lover. However, he cannot outrun his density as Messiah, his disposition of the Sight & mother's influence to distrust Chani and fight for his father's name. Finally, acting with the deliverance and began his mobilization of the Fremen.

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Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development, "ZPD", is the centerpiece of his theory of learning and development. ZPD is the space of what the learner is capable of and what they can achieve with the assistance of a more knowledgeable person.

His theory stated when new information enters the ZPD, that is when the learning is the best, challenging the learner but not overly difficult. Allowing the learner to master the new skill with the help of his "mentor."

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Scaffolding is a teaching technique defined when an MKO provides guidance and gradually decreases his support. Encouraging the learner's familiarity, independence, and competence toward the subject matter. This method is especially useful early on in the learning, helping to bridge the knowledge gap in the topic.

Internalization is Vygotsky's concept in his theory, referring to external social factors and interactions and how they capture and internalize into their learning process. Passively influencing the learner's narrative and contributing to the outcome and outlook of their end goal.

Cultural Tools such as language, arts, poetry, and mathematical and scientific systems further shape the learner's cognitive development. Allowing thinking tools that facilitate greater learning and progress towards mastery, notably in niche and cultural topics.

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Paul is constantly facing adversity, whether it's the Arrakis flora, heat, foreign spies, or the Harkonnens, someone is trying to kill him. Thus, Paul must adapt and is constantly learning and developing his survival and leadership skills to crush his adversaries.

Paul is in a favorable starting zone as his Father's purse and power bankrolled his military training, and his mother's origin allowed him to tap into psychic training; thus, due to his previous cultural and social interactions, he is highly advanced compared to his peers his age. Nonetheless, he's imperfect, and there are times when he cannot predict the future, fails to prepare for what's next, execute his strategies, or defeat his enemies in combat.

Thankfully, his mentors can fill in the gaps where he's falling short and assist him in his end goal. With a very generous ZPD due to his MKO- Mother, Stilgar, Chani, Late Father- he's challenged critically and allowed to advance towards expert and master level and his respective skills of tactics, logistics, warfare, combat, Frenem desert training, leadership, and more.

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Mother

Guardian, nurturer, and supporter. Lady Jessica provides her son with his training in the Bene Gesserit psychic powers of control and his predictions from the Sight.

Chani

As a veteran of the desert and Fremen culture, Chani is the strongest point of reference to cultural tools, practices, and learning the language, along with fighting and surviving in the desert.

Stilgar

Leader of the Fremen tribe, initially hesitant of Paul and his mother but acknowledging their combat skills, Stliger teaches Paul how to rally men, articulate himself as the Messiah, and fight and think like a Fremen warrior.

Late Father

Paul's most powerful and compassionate MKO, unfortunately, passed early on and was unable to assist directly on Arrakis. Nonetheless, it was his father who hired the best in the known universe to lecture, challenge, teach, and train Paul directly in leadership, combat, tactics, sciences, and more.

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Use of Scaffolding, Internalization, & Culture Tools in Paul's Learning

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Use of Scaffolding, Internalization, & Culture Tools in Paul's Learning

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Scaffolding

Paul's scaffolding is prevalent in his training with the Fremen, as once he is shown the instruction, he must perform it instantly without questions or review. He is forced to rely on his intuition, Sight, previous learning, and scarce knowledge granted by the Fremen. Thankfully, this method of scaffolding works flawlessly for Paul, as he can capture the critical points of instructions learned and act with near perfection due to his predispositions.

Internalization

Paul has been fully internalized in Fremen society. He consumes spice, eating their food, thinking as they do, fighting alongside as a warrior and not a commander from Afar, and falling in love with one of their greatest warriors. Almost leaves Paul to initially forgo his original plant due to his love of their culture and developing the Freman mental, though his sight and mother's influence and returns to his original way of thought.

Culture Tools

Paul is significantly influenced by the cultural tools and norms of the Fremen, it corroborated when he successfully earned the trust and initiated the rally of the Fremen warriors. This allows Paul to significantly leverage their faith for his goal, doubling down due to his exposure to their culture, practices, and language.

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Vygotsky would recognize Paul's brightness and predispositions of great military training, son of a great house, mother to a Bene Gesserit and her training, and his gift of foresight. Additionally, he would classify his MKO accordingly and acknowledge their use of scaffolding in adequately teaching Paul to become a great warrior and leader. His successes in growth would be created by the learning in his ZPD. However, Vygotsky would consider his inclinations to destroy his enemies ruthlessly, unlike his father, and note his tendencies to fall short due to his emotional outbreaks. Especially if he is influenced greatly or under control by the Bene Gesserit.

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Paul's journey from a coveted noble society to an unfamiliar environment and then quickly having to survive in harsh circumstances as he hunted taught him many skills on his own. Though Paul is great and blessed, he cannot master all the skills he requires, especially those earned in the desert. Fortunately, he meets Chani, his lover and warrior, and Stilgar, his mentor and leader. Vygotsky's MKO & ZPD theory perfectly explains the psychological science of how Paul learned from his MKOs, being challenged and assisted when needed in his optimal zone of learning.