so gradually that they were never laid out m explicit, declara Uve form From the events in the histones, however, and by interpolation and inference from records m the Rakis Hoard, we have pieted together a plausible rationale Put simphstically, the Bene Gessent came to believe that perfect memory would provide total predictability Because the Bene Gessent preserved the belief in a single creator of the universe, and believed that only this Being knew the temporal design of events all the way to their end, they thought that to be able to predict the future was to possess the power of the creator The connection between memory and pre- ATREIDES, PAUL 90 ATRE1DES PAUL diction can be sketched just as briefly Since certain "laws' of 'cause and effect" were "known" to be universal and unchanging, and since such laws could be generalized from analysis of all previous events (or a large enough subset of' 'all' events), a mind whose memory included enough events and could subject diem to rigorous analysis could extrapolate accurate predictions The names "Laplace" and "Asimov," as well as data about them, appear often enough in the Bene Gessent records to suggest the importance of their ideas within the Bene Gessent program Laplace asserted that complete knowledge of exact position and direction of all "atoms" would let a large enough analyzing engine generate absolutely accurate predictions Asimov at one time made the "design' of future events, by the conscious manipulation of "laws" of mass behavior, seem plausible Enough testimony about the land of progaosti-cators called "econometncians" has survived to suggest that extrapolative prediction was once virtually worshiped by supposedly sophisticated people Hie Bene Gesserit truth-sayers themselves apparently used a microscalar version of such extrapolation from ambiguous information in the practice of their specialty In brief, people once acted as if the past controlled flic future, white believing-at the same tone-that a "designed" future controlled the past The Bene Gessent absorbed mis contradiction and sought a "Shortening of the Way" who would know the future and thus provide them with control over human events The extent of their delusion became clear only after a Kwisatz Haderach had placed humankind on an undeviatmg and potentially fatal course The Bene Gessent breeding program did not reach its exact goal Jessica Harkonnen was to have borne a daughter by Duke Leto Atreides That offspring was to have borne a (possible) Kwisatz Haderach by Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen What actually happened was variously called a mistake, a miscalculation a coincidence, or a "miracle " Paul Atreides was tile consequence of Jessica's acting (or not acting) to adjust either the chromosome match or the pH balance of her uterus The male-child's genes earned information that approximated what the Bene Gessent sought Paul was trained secretly in both "weirding and Mentat skills He was habituated in other words to extrapolating the probable behavior of individuals from minute revelations At short range and on a small scale he could interpret the complex signals of embarrassment confidence and deceit and could guess accurately at the difference between declared and actual motives Furthermore, bei.