God Emperor revealed, if subtly, what Paul was afraid to do.. sacrifice himself and become a tyrant and abomination for the sake of humanity. Humanity was stagnating at the time of Dune, innovation was nearly forbidden and everything was bogged down in tradition, laws and political structures. Humanity was on the path of extinction because everything that doesn't evolve is doomed to fail.
Paul saw this in his visions but he also so the pain he would have to inflict on humanity for them to get past the stagnation and he couldn't do it which is why Leto II did it.
Strongly disagree with this interpretation.
Yes, humanity was stagnating (genetically) at the beginning of Dune. That was the reason for Paul's Jihad. To end the stagnation. It's why the Jihad didn't even need Paul, he could have died on he way to Sietch Tabr that first trip and the Jihad still would have occurred with him as a martyr. It was an unconscious yearning in all humanity to mix it's genes. This is expressly stated in the first two novels. Paul's birth and life were the product of this unconscious genetic yearning. He is literally the physical embodiment of rejection of stagnation.
When Leto takes over he
enforces a new stagnation, an artificial one, that contravenes the wild mixing of genes his father inspired. This stagnation, a much greater one than seen in the empire before Paul, would lead to the typhoon struggle.
Either humanity would survive this artificially induced stagnation and explode across the galaxy in a new exodus, exploring the furthest reaches of space
or they would all die and humanity would go extinct.
Paul's fear was not being hated. Paul had no qualms about inflicting pain. He's a Fremen. Pain is expected. Paul's rejection of the Golden path is because he didn't think humanity would survive it.
"Stagnation! Death!" Are the words Paul uses in the desert when Leto confronts him about the Golden Path.
What was the biggest lesson drilled into him by Gurney and Duncan as revealed near the end of the first novel? That stagnation = death. Never tie yourself to one location. Always keep moving. How did he survive the Harkonnens invasion? By moving, quickly and constantly, leading a guerrilla war. How did he defeat the Harkonnens and Saurdakeur? By forcing them into one location where he could attack with will.
Paul thought humanity would die, so he rejected the Golden Path.
Leto thought humanity would survive, so he accepted the Golden Path.