dence was a potential weakness m the Mentat system one first identified by the Bene Gessent Always mistrustful of Ihe logic dependent approach of the rival Order of Mentals yet never attacking its methods openly, the Bene Gessent secretly spread the word that Mentats could be undermined bv self doubt Openly the Bene Gessent charged that Mentats could not adequately interprel the quality of Ihe data they used The Sisterhood read the language of the body in the nuance of a blink, a gesture a shrug and contrasted their additional channel of information wilh the Mentat reliance on discursive symbolic systems The Bene Gessent maintained that no Mentat could ever provide a full reading and thus could never offer complete advice Many lent some credence to the charge but discounted its importance to a Mentat s function The real dispute between the two Orders lay m the epistemology of inference the nature nurture controversy, and religious disagreemenl One relied on intuition, the other on reason one placed its faith m the power of heredity supported by training the other in the power of training aided by heredity, one-an Or der tempered in the fire of the Butlenan Jihad-believed most fanatically Thou shall not make a machine m the likeness of a human mind,' and the other dedicated itself to making human minds in the likeness of machines Though centuries of mutual mistrust MENTAT ORGANIZATION MENTATS TWISTED neither benefitted from the accumulated wis dom of the other TRAINING Mental training began as early as possible, even m infancy if strong poten tial was noted Early training stimulated sen sory awareness through sound, color, texture odor, and taste, kmesic's awareness through spinning, rocking warmth, cold, emotional awareness through fear, joy, anger, love hate, and security During childhood, the future Mentals developed mentally and physically in rigorous, year-round programs The aim was to broaden the youngster's cognition and to resist specialization Severe punishment met the child who neglected one study m favor of another "Everything is important, and noth ing is more important than everything" was the motto of the Mentat training school A strict and unforgiving disciplinary code promoted Albaas' goal that every child be completely self-directed by fifteen Campus construction and maintenance, the evening silence, the weekly fast, all tasks performed by lowerclassmen and directed and enforced by upperclassmen, who punished breaches with a seventy they had learned in their turn from their predecessors Sports developed strategy as well as physical skill, some, long distance running, for example aided the disciplinary code and the six-day-a-week curriculum in either producing a fully ready candidate for the novitiate or m washing turn out of the program In the final preparatory year, at about fourteen, students were grounded in prepositional and predicate logic, inference, modal deduction, tramfinite induction, statistics, multivalent analysis, conceptual synthesis, N-dimensional geometry, formal linguistics, and transcendental phenomenology These stud les provided die mental linkages to accept subsequent Mentat training, should the student succeed in mastering them Assuming the success of the early conditioning and education, age fifteen was the year of decision, of sponsorship as a Mentat candidate The applicant s predisposition-his commitment-had been amply demonstrated by fifteen, leaving only his "calling' to be heard to gain acceptance The applicant se- cluded himself and meditated, awaiting the call For some it never came For others the vocation grew from patient deliberation For a few, a flash from the core of being cried "Yes ' to the opportunities and dangers of life as a Mentat Those who never received the call were not disgraced many still loved the Order and served it m a variety of ways-as teachers of the young, as admin istrators, or in the auxiliary, The Friends of the Order of Mentals But if the call did come, the Order rejoiced, other applicants and their mentors pledged to help and sup port the Called One throughout his life whatever his final progress on his path through the ranks of the Order PF NOTES 'Gilbertus Albans The Mentat Handbook rev G O Playt, tr Dale, Reeve Mara (1252, Finally Mosaic), p 46 2Albans Mentat Handbook p 292 Further reference MENTATS HISTORY OF THE ORDER MENTATS, TWISTED.