this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2023
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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Sucks for him - I literally can't stop jerking myself over the movie. It was soo gooood. Oh. Time to clean up again.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Put your sand worm back where it lives.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

you talking about the movie or Zendaya?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It has been a while, but I'm pretty sure the bladed weapons are needed because the shields specifically block objects with high kinetic energy. I also recall one of the houses on arakis getting bombed, but only after they were able to turn off the protective barrier. I might be mixing up Sci fi books, though.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You’re not - it’s pretty explicitly the point. The technological arms race has gotten so advanced that everyone has devolved into fighting with knives.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

And even then, the training focuses on slow, deliberate moves, as even a fast knife can be deflected.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The shields don't just protect against kinetic weapons, they also tend to cause energy weapons to blow up in a thermonuclear explosions iirc

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Sounds like a drone dropping an energy weapon on a shield users head would do the trick then.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

iirc computing is pretty gimped in Dune as well because of previous issues with AI, humanity limited development on that front and focused on developing human capabilities instead, which is where spice came into play…it like super charged your cognition in order to navigating ships through space or something like that. Someone familiar with books please correct that I’m sure it’s not perfect.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

That's right. There was a war called the Butlerian Jihad in which humanity wiped out anything close to AI. Since then it has been high-treason-level illegal to "make a machine in the image of the human mind".

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

That's why they have "Mentats".

Also, the book was written in the 1960's. At the time, you still communicated with a computer using a teletype because nobody had thought to put words on a screen yet. You can also see this in the original Star Trek - they never show a screen with text on it.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

There are cultural implications. For the same reason that thermonuclear warheads are stockpiled but not used these days, they avoid using lazguns because you simultaneously blow up more than you would need and turn everyone against you. There are laws in the empire that prevent a military power from intentionally triggering one of these reactions for obvious reasons.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

Specifically it causes the explosion at both ends, so firing a laser at something you aren't 100% absolutely positively sure is unshielded is suicidal.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes it is because of shields. Laser fire on shields makes a nuclear explosion and I think most fast projectiles are reflected.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Also don't personal shields attract the worm?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

Yes, correct

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Laze guns interact with the sheilds causing basically the destructive power of Tsar Bomba+, but knives/swords (when used properly, as Gurney Halleck taught Paul to do) pierce the sheilds. Read the book nerd.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Now ask why fighters in Star Wars bank and turn like WW2 fighter planes flying in atmosphere...

Hint: Narrative ~~convenance~~ convenience .

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

The movie had its problems and I've never read the books but even I know the answer is because the shields don't stop slow moving objects otherwise you wouldn't be able to pick up a cup. It's even explained in the film, admittedly very briefly.

But then again that's also how personal shields work in Stargate

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Have they considered that poison gas also moves slowly?

And napalm?

They sure as hell don't mind war crimes.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

That's a plot point in the series, yes

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

Also a laser hitting a shield causes a massive explosion, which could be at the shield or laser gun. Bullets get stopped and a laser would likely kill either user if many kilometers away, or both of closer.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

They even had a little rhyme/phrase to help them remember to stab their opponents slowly.