In the Dune universe, Mentats are people who are highly skilled in logic, computing, and cognitive thinking. They were developed as a replacement for computers and thinking machines following the Butlerian Jihad, which banned the use of such machines. Instead of relying on machines to solve logic issues, society trains selected humans to be Mentats. Mentats bring an ethical component to their computing and logic-based assessments, and they are part of a specific class system within the Imperium (also known as the Galactic Padishah Empire), which rules the galaxy. The textbook definition of a Mentat is a "class of Imperial citizens trained for supreme accomplishments of logic". They are also often known as "human computers," which makes sense since they bring human ethics into neutral, unbiased logic. In the Dune series, Paul Atreides, the protagonist, is a Mentat, and his logic and computing skills help him solve tricky situations and assess political situations from the most logical and beneficial standpoint.