I think when a story is well told, it's easy to overlook how implausible it actually is. Paul Atreides as a rationalist hero? He's the outcome of a breeding program for people who can see the future and the rightful heir to a whole planet and a prophesied messiah of a huge religion and a supersoldier with insane fighting skills. All of that is set up before the events of the novel even begin. And then he, um, takes psychedelic drugs and magically learns what's going on in outer space. And marries a princess.
The real question is what you'd do in a universe where someone else has all these gifts, but it's not you. Like how in LOTR Aragorn has all the gifts (rightful heir, supersoldier, engaged to an immortal princess) but Sam is the real hero. I half wish Eliezer had used that approach in HPMOR instead of going with Harry as the obvious choice.
In the game Oblivion (Elder Scrolls IV), the player character is so much not the hero that he can't even wear the amulets of kings that is given to him at the very beginning of the game. The end of the main plot actually have you watch the messiah save the world. Unusual, but refreshing. (Then Skyrim went back to having the player being the messiah.)
I was enamored with Skyrim, but the more of the plot lines I went through, the more ridiculous the story seemed. So I'm the best warrior Companion, the best Mage in Winterhold, the key to the civil war and the dragon born? The first plot line I went through - Companions - worked fine, because it was the first. But each successive one fell flat at least a little, because how I was the best at everything.
What I enjoyed was the world they built. The plot was secondary.
To be fair, in Oblivion, you can still become the best thief, mage, fighter, gladiator, and assassin in the entire province, all at the same time. With the DLC, you can also become a holy knight and a copy of a daedric prince. Never mind the downloadable mods.
I thought the point of that particular plot element--and making the player a prisoner of some sort at the beginning of Elder Scrolls games--was to avoid coercing the player into adhering to the preconceptions attached to particular roles. The game tells you, right from the start, that you're a blank slate, so do what you want.
If you do all the quests, of course it's going to start being a bit ridiculous. But the game is also supposed to be fun for someone who wants to just play one particular role, without sinking 400 hours into the game while trying to do everything.
I was aiming more towards the hyper-awareness aspect. The visualization of probabilities, the details that affect those probabilities, the fact that sometimes he is in the dark, a shadowy valley in which the horizons after which things are unknown are very close by (in the near future). I love that way of looking at it, it is an eye opener for me at this moment in time.
I also don't like it that he dreamed he was going to be called Muad'Dib but I'm happy to ignore such small slips of the scientific pen and extract the value around it.
By the way your post should have a spoiler alert ;) (Perhaps mine should as well)
The real question is what you'd do in a universe where someone else has all these gifts, but it's not you. Like how in LOTR Aragorn has all the gifts (rightful heir, supersoldier, engaged to an immortal princess) but Sam is the real hero. I half wish Eliezer had used that approach in HPMOR instead of going with Harry as the obvious choice.