My love for the works of Frank Herbert, and others of his genre -such as Heinlein, or Pournelle- is largely due to the fact that they were not only accurately 'speculative' in their fiction, but doggedly and faithfully humanist; their themes (however convoluted) were almost without exception centred on the lives, loves, and losses of characters with which a person could readily identify.....lol.. I've met many Harkkonens in my lifetime so far, and I can't remember a time when more than a week went by before I'd have gladly elected for the wholesale proscription of all 'thinking' machines- In addition, I feel it would be no less than fair to pay tribute to David Lynch and John Harrison for the reverence with which they've treated Frank Herbert's elegant and beautiful creation.
