The Culture - Knowledge

565:

and are typically used by the Contact Section. Higher level encryptions exist, the highest of these being M32. M32 and lower level encrypted signals are the province of Special Circumstances (SC). Use of M32 is reserved for extremely secret and reserved information and communication within Special Circumstances. That said, M32 has an air of notoriety in the Culture, and in the thoughts of most may best be articulated as "the Unbreakable, Inviolable, Holy of Holies Special Circumstances M32" as described by prospective SC agent Ulver Seich. Ships and Minds also have a slightly distasteful view of SC procedure associated with M32, one Ship Mind going so far as to object to the standard SC attitude of "Full scale, stark raving M32 don't-talk-about-this-or-we'll-pull-your-plugs-out-baby paranoia" on the use of the encryption.

734:

female and back (though the process takes time), sexual stimulation and endurance are strongly heightened in both sexes (something that is often the subject of envious debate among other species), pain can be switched off, toxins can be bypassed away from the digestive system, autonomic functions such as heart rate can be switched to conscious control, reflexes like blinking can be switched off, and bones and muscles adapt quickly to changes in gravity without the need to exercise. The degree of enhancement found in Culture individuals varies to taste, with certain of the more exotic enhancements limited to Special Circumstances personnel (for example, weapons systems embedded in various parts of the body).

1753:"they tend to know everything." Aside from its vast network of sympathetic allies and wandering Culture citizens one of the primary ways that the Culture keeps track of important events is by the use of practically invisible nanobots capable of recording and transmitting their observations. This technique is described as being especially useful to track potentially dangerous people (such as ex-Special Circumstances agents). Via such nanotechnology, it is potentially possible for the Culture (or similarly advanced societies) to see everything happening on a given planet, orbital or any other habitat. The usage of such devices is limited by various treaties and agreements among the Involved. 704:

where every ailment has been cured, and where every thought can be read. Many of the Culture novels in fact contain characters (from within or without the Culture) wondering how far-reaching the Minds' dominance of the Culture is, and how much of the democratic process within it might in fact be a sham: subtly but very powerfully influenced by the Minds in much the same ways Contact and Special Circumstances influence other societies. Also, except for some mentions about a vote over the Idiran-Culture War, and the existence of a very small number of "Referrers" (humans of especially acute reasoning), few biological entities are ever described as being involved in any high-level decisions.

1585:). Yet it has managed to condense these entities to a volume of several dozen cubic metres (though much of the contents and the operating structure are continually in hyperspace). Minds also demonstrate reaction times and multitasking abilities orders of magnitude greater than any sentient being; armed engagements between Culture and equivalent technological civilisations sometimes occur in timeframes as short as microseconds, and standard Orbital Minds are capable of running all of the vital systems on the Orbital while simultaneously conversing with millions of the inhabitants and observing phenomena in the surrounding regions of space. 2354:; the liberty of the individual is its most important value; and all actions and decisions are expected to be determined according to a standard of reasonability and sociability inculcated into all people through a progressive system of education. It is a society so beyond material scarcity that for almost all practical purposes its people can have and do what they want. If they do not like the behaviour or opinions of others, they can easily move to a more congenial Culture population centre (or Culture subgroup), and hence there is little need to enforce codes of behaviour. 2300:. Banks deliberately portrayed an imperfect utopia whose imperfection or weakness is related to its interaction with the 'other', that is, exterior civilisations and species that are sometimes variously warred with or mishandled through the Culture's Contact section which cannot always control its intrigues and the individuals it either 'employs' or interacts with. This 'dark side' of The Culture also alludes to or echoes mistakes and tragedies in 20th century Marxist–Leninist countries, although the Culture is generally portrayed as far more 'humane' and just. 2127: 561:, which Marain speakers do not use in typical conversation unless specifying one's gender is necessary, and by general reflection on the fact that Marain places much less structural emphasis on (or even lacks) concepts like possession and ownership, dominance and submission, and especially aggression. Many of these concepts would in fact be somewhat theoretical to the average Culture citizen. Indeed, the presence of these concepts in other civilisations signify the brutality and hierarchy associated with forms of empire that the Culture strives to avoid. 1830:, an orbital does not enclose the star (being much too small). Like a ringworld, the orbital rotates to provide an analog of gravity on the inner surface. A Culture orbital rotates about once every 24 hours and has gravity-like effect about the same as the gravity of Earth, making the diameter of the ring about 3,700,000 kilometres (2,300,000 mi) (nearly 5 times larger than diameter of the Moon's orbit around Earth), and ensuring that the inhabitants experience night and day. Orbitals feature prominently in many Culture stories. 2313:

argument is that the Culture operates completely without material need, and therefore without the possibility of baser motives. This is not to say that the Culture's motives are purely altruistic; a peaceful, enlightened universe full of good neighbours lacking ethnic, religious, and sexual chauvinisms is in the Culture's interest as well. Furthermore, the Culture's ideals, in many ways similar to those of the liberal perspective today, are to a much larger extent realised internally in comparison to the West.

1789:

to a cross between gigantic blimps and whales. The airspheres slowly migrate around the galaxy, taking anywhere from 50 to 100 million years to complete one circuit. In the novels no one knows who created the airspheres or why, but it is presumed that whoever did has long since sublimed but may maintain some obscure link with the behemothaurs and lenticular entities. Guests in the airspheres are not allowed to use any force-field technology, though no reason has been offered for this prohibition.

850:

lesser drones such as the menial service units of Orbitals are merely proto-sentient (capable of limited reaction to unprogrammed events, but possessing no consciousness, and thus not considered citizens; these take care of much of the menial work in the Culture). The sentience of advanced drones has various levels of redundancy, from systems similar to that of Minds (though much reduced in capability) down to electronic, to mechanical and finally biochemical back-up brains.

1909:, and consist of multilayered levels of concentric spheres in four dimensions held up by countless titanic interior towers. Their extra dimensional characteristics render some products of Culture technology too dangerous to use and yet others ineffective, notably access to hyperspace. About 4000 were built millions of years ago as vast machines intended to cast a forcefield around the whole of the galaxy for unknown purposes; less than half of those remain at the time of 2024:, three more branches of Contact are described: Quietus, the Quietudinal Service, whose purview is dealing with those entities who have retired from biological existence into digital form and/or those who have died and been resurrected; Numina, which is described as having the charge of contact with races that have sublimed; and Restoria, a subset of Contact which focuses on containing and negating the threat of swarms of self-replicating creatures ("hegswarms"). 2004:

alone makes it much more commonly the case for Culture people simply to join Contact if they long to "see the world". Further within Contact, an intelligence organisation named Special Circumstances exists to deal with interventions which require more covert behaviour; the interventionist approach that the Culture takes to advancing other societies may often create resentment in the affected civilisations and thus requires a rather delicate touch (see:

1913:, many having been destroyed by a departed species known as the Iln. The species that developed this technology, known as the Veil or the Involucra, are now lost, and many of the remaining shellworlds have become inhabited, often by many different species throughout their varying levels. Many still hold deadly secret defence mechanisms, often leading to great danger for their new inhabitants, giving them one of their other nicknames: Slaughter Worlds. 253: 960:, and would likely be considered godlike in less rational societies. As independent, thinking beings, each has its own character, and indeed, legally (insofar as the Culture has a 'legal system'), each is a Culture citizen. Some Minds are more aggressive, some more calm; some don't mind mischief, others simply demonstrate intellectual curiosity. But above all they tend to behave rationally and benevolently in their decisions. 2189: 2086: 194: 43: 711:(one of the main objectives for any being, including Minds, is to have fun rather than to be "useful"). Also, Minds are constructed, by convention, to care for and value human beings. While a General Contact Unit (GCU) does not strictly need a crew (and could construct artificial avatars when it did), a real human crew adds richness to its existence, and offers distraction during otherwise dull periods. In 637:, people can recognize items made by the Culture implicitly, by the way they are simple, efficient and aesthetic. The main outright symbol of the Culture is its language, Marain, which is used far beyond the Culture itself. It is often employed in the galaxy as a de facto lingua franca among people who don't share a language. Marain has a similar purpose to other constructed languages encountered in 1766:

living on planets, except when visiting other civilisations. The reason for this is partly because the Culture believes in containing its own expansion to self-constructed habitats, instead of colonising or conquering new planets. With the resources of the universe allowing permanent expansion (at least assuming non-exponential growth), this frees them from having to compete for living space.

1557: – including forces capable of pushing, pulling, cutting, and even fine manipulation, and forcefields for protection, visual display or plain destructive ability. Such applications still retain restrictions on range and power: while forcefields of many cubic kilometres are possible (and in fact, orbitals are held together by forcefields), even in the chronologically later novels, such as 143: 84: 1971:

people loosely refer to as "barbarians", societies of intelligent beings which lack the technical capacity to know about or take a serious role in their interstellar neighbourhood. There are also the elder civilisations, which are civilisations that reached the required level of technology for sublimation, but chose not to, and have retreated from the larger galactic meta-civilisation.

700:

in the Culture, and its citizens are such by choice, free to change physical form and even species (though some stranger biological conversions are irreversible, and conversion from biological to artificial sentience is considered to be what is known as an Unusual Life Choice). All members are also free to join, leave, and rejoin, or indeed declare themselves to be, say, 80% Culture.

1991:

other Involved and is used to indicate their low regard for those with these ambitions by comparing their behaviour to that of mindless self-replicating technology. The Culture's central moral dilemma regarding intervention in other societies can be construed as a conflict between the desire to help others and the desire to avoid becoming a hegemonising swarm themselves.

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more destructive weaponry such as lasers or, exceptionally, "knife-missiles" are referred to) all powered by antimatter reactors. Despite being purpose-built, these drones are still allowed individual personalities and given a choice in lifestyle. Indeed, some are eventually deemed psychologically unsuitable as agents (for example as Mawhrin-Skel notes about itself in

1843:) before the Culture elected to turn towards artificial habitats, preferring to keep the planets it encounters wild. Since then, the Culture has come to look down on terraforming as inelegant, ecologically problematic and possibly even immoral. Less than one per cent of the population of the Culture lives on planets, and many find the very concept somewhat bizarre. 1746:, though descriptions of such technology in the books is limited. Many of the described uses are by or for Special Circumstances, but there are no indications that the use of nanotechnology is limited in any way. (In a passage in one of the books, there is a brief reference to the question of sentience when comparing the human brain or a "pico-level substrate".) 1589:

spacesuits) are also provided with artificial sentience. These specific types of drones, like all other Culture AI, would also be considered citizens - though as described in the short story "Descendant", they may spend most of the time when their "body" is not in use in a form of remote-linked existence outside of it, or in a form of AI-level virtual reality.

609:-style surveillance society, in practice social convention among the Minds prohibits them from watching, or interfering in, citizens' lives unless requested, or unless they perceive severe risk. The practice of reading a sentient's mind without permission (something the Culture is technologically easily capable of) is also strictly taboo. The whole plot of 996:, a conspiracy by some Minds to start a war against an oppressive alien race nearly comes to fruition. Yet even in these rare cases, the essentially benevolent intentions of Minds towards other Culture citizens is never in question. More than any other beings in the Culture, Minds are the ones faced with the more complex and provocative ethical dilemmas. 887:

Minds are tremendously powerful: capable of running all of the functions of a ship or habitat, while holding potentially billions of simultaneous conversations with the citizens that live aboard them. To allow them to perform at such a high degree, they exist partially in hyperspace to get around hindrances to computing power such as the speed of light.

866:

coloured fields called "auras", which are used to enable the drone to express emotion. There is a complex drone code based on aura colours and patterns (which is fully understood by biological Culture citizens as well). Drones have full control of their auras and can display emotions they're not feeling or can switch their aura off. The drone, Jase, in

2017:, it is described that there are a number of other galactic civilisations that come close to or potentially even surpass the Culture in power and sophistication. The Culture is very careful and considerate of these groupings, and while still trying to convince them of the Culture ideal, will be much less likely to openly interfere in their activities. 1850:, some Minds suggest testing a new technology on a "spare planet" (knowing that it could be destroyed in an antimatter explosion if unsuccessful). One could assume – from Minds' usual ethics – that such a planet would have been lifeless to start with. It is also quite possible, even probable, that the suggestion was not made in complete seriousness. 2399:, an overwhelmingly more powerful individual from an extremely advanced civilisation is simply passing through on its way from one plane of the physical Reality to another, and there is no real interaction. In the third case it sets up teams to study a civilisation that is not threatening but is thought to have eliminated aggressors in the past. 2052:

systems, stellar regions and many orbital habitats were overrun by the Idirans before the Culture had converted enough of its forces to military footing. The Culture Minds had had enough foresight to evacuate almost all its affected citizens (apparently numbering in the many billions) in time before actual hostilities reached them. As shown in

1967:

societies which do not take a dynamic role in the galaxy as a whole are designated as "galactically mature". In the novels, the Culture might be considered the premier Involved society, or at least the most dynamic and energetic, especially given that the Culture itself is a growing multicultural fusion of Involved societies.

2391:. Later in the timeline of the Culture's universe, the Culture has reached a technological level at which most past civilisations have Sublimed, in other words disengaged from Galactic politics and from most physical interaction with other civilisations. The Culture continues to behave "like an idealistic adolescent". 594:. Minds also judge each other, with one of the more relevant criteria being the quality of their treatment of sentients in their care. Hub Minds for example are generally nominated from well-regarded GSV (the largest class of ships) Minds, and then upgraded to care for the billions living on the artificial habitats. 818:, a Culture citizen who becomes dysfunctional enough to pose a serious nuisance or threat to others would be offered (voluntary) psychological adjustment therapy and might potentially find themself under constant (non-voluntary) oversight by representatives of the local Mind. In extreme cases, as described in 760:, is a mood- and energy-enhancing drug, while other such self-produced drugs include "Calm", "Gain", "Charge", "Recall", "Diffuse", "Somnabsolute", "Softnow", "Focal", "Edge", "Drill", "Gung", "Winnow" and "Crystal Fugue State". The glanded substances have no permanent side-effects and are non-habit-forming. 2394:

As of 2008, three stories force the Culture to consider its approach to more powerful civilisations. In one incident during the Culture-Idiran War, they strive to avoid offending a civilisation so advanced that it has disengaged from Galactic politics, and note that this hyper-advanced society is not

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In addition, EDust assassins are potent Culture terror weapons, composed entirely of nano machines called EDust, or "Everything Dust." They are capable of taking almost any shape or form, including swarms of insects or entire humans or aliens, and possess powerful weaponry capable of levelling entire

1717:

one of the largest ships of the Culture redesigns itself to be mostly engine ( Even more impressively, this is later discovered to be thanks to combining the hyperspace engine fields of thousands of semi-slaved warships which have been constructed in secret, and housed within the ship itself, and out

1685:

Starships are living spaces, vehicles and ambassadors of the Culture. A proper Culture starship (as defined by hyperspace capability and the presence of a Mind to inhabit it) may range from several hundreds of metres to hundreds of kilometres. The latter may be inhabited by billions of beings and are

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These ships provide a convenient 'body' for a Mind, which is too large and too important to be contained within smaller, more fragile shells. Following the 'body' analogy, it also provides the Mind with the capability of physical movement. As Minds are living beings with curiosity, emotion and wishes

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On the other hand, it can also be argued that to the Minds, the human-like members of the Culture amount to little more than pets, whose wants are followed on a Mind's whim. Within the Series, this dynamic is played on more than once. In 'Excession', it is also played on to put a Mind in its place—in

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Within the novels, opponents of the Culture have argued that the role of humans in the Culture is nothing more than that of pets, or parasites on Culture Minds, and that they can have nothing genuinely useful to contribute to a society where science is close to omniscient about the physical universe,

2813:

But I don't think you have to have a society like the Culture in order for people to live. The Culture is a self-consciously stable and long-lived society that wants to go on living for thousands of years. Lots of other civilisations within the same universe hit the Culture's technological level and

2263:

The inner workings of The Culture are not especially described in detail though it is shown that the society is populated by an empowered, educated and augmented citizenry in a direct democracy or highly democratic and transparent system of self-governance. In comparisons to the real world, intended

2003:

A group within the Culture, known as Contact, is responsible for its interactions (diplomatic or otherwise) with other civilisations. Non-Contact citizens are apparently not prevented from travelling or interacting with other civilisations, though the effort and potential danger involved in doing so

1999:

Although they lead a comfortable life within the Culture, many of its citizens feel a need to be useful and to belong to a society that does not merely exist for their own sake but that also helps improve the lot of sentient beings throughout the galaxy. For that reason the Culture carries out "good

1970:

The Involved are contrasted with the Sublimed, groups that have reached a high level of technical development and galactic influence but subsequently abandoned physical reality, ceasing to take serious interventionist interest in galactic civilisation. They are also contrasted with what some Culture

1705:

system of theoretical physics to describe the ships' acceleration and travel, using such concepts as "infraspace" and "ultraspace" and an "energy grid" between universes (from which the warp engines "push off" to achieve momentum). An "induced singularity" is used to access infra or ultra space from

1524:

Concerning the lifespan of drones and Minds, given the durability of Culture technology and the options of mindstate backups, it is reasonable to assume that they live as long as they choose. Even Minds, with their utmost complexity, are known to be backed up (and reactivated if they for example die

1499:

Attitudes individual citizens have towards death are varied (and have varied throughout the Culture's history). While many, if not most, citizens make some use of backup technology, many others do not, preferring instead to risk death without the possibility of recovery (for example when engaging in

886:

By contrast to drones, Minds are orders of magnitude more powerful and intelligent than the Culture's other biological and artificial citizens. Typically they inhabit and act as the controllers of large-scale Culture hardware such as ships or space-based habitats. Unsurprisingly, given their duties,

849:

Drones are roughly comparable in intelligence and social status to that of the Culture's biological members. Their intelligence is measured against that of an average biological member of the Culture; a so-called "1.0 value" drone would be considered the mental equal of a biological citizen, whereas

784:

the tenor of the time had generally turned against... outlandishness and people had mostly returned to looking more like people over the last millennium... (previously) as the fashions of the intervening times had ordained – people... had resembled birds, fish, dirigible balloons, snakes, small

699:

Although the Culture was originated by humanoid species, subsequent interactions with other civilisations have introduced many non-humanoid species into the Culture (including some former enemy civilisations), though the majority of the biological Culture is still pan-human. Little uniformity exists

2819:

The point is, humanity can find its own salvation. It doesn't necessarily have to rely on machines. It'll be a bit sad if we did, if it's our only real form of progress. Nevertheless, unless there's some form of catastrophe, we are going to use machines whether we like it or not. This sort of stuff

2807:

Not entirely, no. I think the first point to make about the Culture is, I'm just making it up as I go along. It doesn't exist and I don't delude myself that it does. It's just my take on it. I'm not convinced that humanity is capable of becoming the Culture because I think people in the Culture are

2361:

Within Contact and Special Circumstances, there are also inner circles that can take control in crises, somewhat contradictory to the ideal notions of democratic and open process the Culture espouses. Contact and Special Circumstances may suppress or delay the release of information, for example to

1958:

in the typical sense of the word, possesses no borders. Its sphere of influence is better defined by the (current) concentration of Culture ships and habitats as well as the measure of effect its example and its interventions have already had on the "local" population of any galactic sector. As the

1788:

Citizens of the Culture live there only very occasionally as guests, usually to study the complex ecosystem of the airspheres and the dominant life-forms: the "dirigible behemothaurs" and "gigalithine lenticular entities", which may be described as inscrutable, ancient intelligences looking similar

1576:

Artificial intelligences (and to a lesser degree, the non-sentient computers omnipresent in all material goods), form the backbone of the technological advances of the Culture. Not only are they the most advanced scientists and designers the Culture has, their lesser functions also oversee the vast

873:

In size drones vary substantially: the oldest still alive (eight or nine thousand years old) tend to be around the size of humans, whereas later technology allows drones to be small enough to lie in a human's cupped palm; modern drones may be any size between these extremes according to fashion and

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of the series is the ethical struggle it faces when interacting with other societies – some of which brutalise their own members, pose threats to other civilisations, or threaten the Culture itself. It tends to make major decisions based on the consensus formed by its Minds and, if appropriate, its

1921:

Ships in the Culture are intelligent individuals, often of very large size, controlled by one or more Minds. The ship is considered by the Culture generally and the Mind itself to be the Mind's body (compare avatars). Some ships (GSVs, for example) are tens or even hundreds of kilometres in length

1641:

a barely apple-sized drone was displaced no further than a light-second at maximum range (mass being a limiting factor determining range), a tiny distance in galactic terms. The process also still has a very small chance of failing and killing living beings, but the chance is described as being so

1024:

The high computing power of the Mind is apparently enabled by thought processes (and electronics) being constantly in hyperspace (thus circumventing the light speed limit in computation). Minds do have back-up capabilities functioning with light-speed if the hyperspace capabilities fail - however,

972:

More often than not, the Mind's character defines the ship's purpose. Minds do not end up in roles unsuited to them; an antisocial Mind simply would not volunteer to organise the care of thousands of humans, for example. On occasion groupings of two or three Minds may run a ship. This seems normal

853:

Although drones are artificial, the parameters that prescribe their minds are not rigidly constrained, and sentient drones are full individuals, with their own personalities, opinions and quirks. Like biological citizens, Culture drones generally have lengthy names. They also have a form of sexual

733:

have advanced in the Culture to the point where bodies can be freed from built-in limitations. Citizens of the Culture refer to a normal human as "human-basic" and the vast majority opt for significant enhancements: severed limbs grow back, sexual physiology can be voluntarily changed from male to

564:

Marain itself is also open to encryption and dialect-specific implementations for different parts of the Culture. M1 is basic Nonary Marain, the three-by-three grid. All Culture citizens can communicate in this variant. Other variants include M8 through M16, which are encrypted by various degrees,

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that language influences thought, and Marain was designed by early Minds to exploit this effect, while also "appealing to poets, pedants, engineers and programmers". Designed to be represented either in binary or symbol-written form, Marain is also regarded as an aesthetically pleasing language by

521:

and other alien species who all share equal status. All essential work is performed (as far as possible) by non-sentient devices, freeing sentients to do only things that they enjoy (administrative work requiring sentience is undertaken by the AIs using a bare fraction of their mental power, or by

2321:

Examples are the use of mercenaries to perform the work that the Culture does not want to get their hands dirty with, and even outright threats of invasion (the Culture has issued ultimatums to other civilisations before). Some commentators have also argued that those Special Circumstances agents

2051:

It is described in various novels that the Culture is extremely reluctant to go to war, though it may start to prepare for it long before its actual commencement. In the Idiran-Culture War (possibly one of the most hard-fought wars for the normally extremely superior Culture forces), various star

1990:

and ridiculous. Most often, societies categorised as hegemonising swarms consist of species or groups newly arrived in the galactic community with highly expansionary and exploitative goals. The usage of the term "hegemonising swarm" in this context is considered derisive in the Culture and among

1765:

Much of the Culture's population lives on orbitals, vast artificial worlds that can accommodate billions of people. Others travel the galaxy in huge space ships such as General Systems Vehicles (GSVs) that can accommodate hundreds of millions of people. Almost no Culture citizens are described as

1588:

At the same time, it has achieved drone sentiences and capability of Special Circumstance proportions in forms that could fit easily within a human hand, and built extremely powerful (though not sentient) computers capable of fitting into tiny insect-like drones. Some utilitarian devices (such as

1060:

Cores, small (in the literal physical sense) Artificial intelligences used in shuttles, trans-light modules, Drones, and other machines not large enough for a full scale Mind. While still considered sentient, a mind's power at this point is considered greatly inferior to a contemporary Mind. That

1008:

While Minds would likely have different capabilities, especially seeing their widely differing ages (and thus technological sophistication), this is not a theme of the books. It might be speculated that the older Minds are upgraded to keep in step with the advances in technology, thus making this

980:

Banks also hints at a Mind's personality becoming defined at least partially before its creation or 'birth'. Warships, as an example, are designed to revel in controlled destruction; seeing a certain glory in achieving a 'worthwhile' death also seems characteristic. The presence of human crews on

968:

the ship, certainly from its passengers' point of view. It seems normal practice to address the ship's Mind as "Ship" (and an Orbital hub as "Hub"). However, a Mind can transfer its 'mind state' into and out of its ship 'body', and even switch roles entirely, becoming (for example) an Orbital Hub

857:

While civilian drones do generally match humans in intelligence, drones built especially as Contact or Special Circumstances agents are often several times more intelligent, and imbued with extremely powerful senses, powers and armaments (usually forcefield and effector-based, though occasionally

2333:

demonstrates how at least some Minds are prepared to risk killing sentient beings when they conclude that these actions are beneficial for the long term good. Special Circumstances represents a very small fraction of Contact, which itself is only a small fraction of the entire Culture, making it

2059:

War within the Culture is mostly fought by the Culture's sentient warships, the most powerful of these being war-converted GSVs, which are described as powerful enough to oppose whole enemy fleets. The Culture has little use for conventional ground forces (as it rarely occupies enemy territory);

1881:

These are asteroids and other non-planetary bodies hollowed out for habitation and usually spun for centrifugal artificial gravity. Rocks (with the exception of those used for secretive purposes) are described as having faster-than-light space drives, and thus can be considered a special form of

1838:

Though many other civilisations in the Culture books live on planets, the Culture as currently developed has little direct connection to on-planet existence. Banks has written that he presumes this to be an inherent consequence of space colonisation, and a foundation of the liberal nature of the

1605:

and the "energy grid", a postulated energy field dividing the universe from neighboring anti-matter universes, and providing practically limitless energy. Transmission or storage of such energy is not explained, though these capabilities must be powerful as well, with tiny drones capable of very

1111:

is also described as having internal power sources which function as back-up shield generators and space propulsion, and seeing the rational, safety-conscious thinking of Minds, it would be reasonable to assume that all Minds have such features, as well as a complement of drones and other remote

809:

Almost all Culture citizens are very sociable, of great intellectual capability and learning, and possess very well-balanced psyches. Their biological make-up and their growing up in an enlightened society make neuroses and lesser emotions like greed or (strong) jealousy practically unknown, and

720:

To a large degree, the freedoms enjoyed by humans in the Culture are only available because Minds choose to provide them. The freedoms include the ability to leave the Culture when desired, often forming new associated but separate societies with Culture ships and Minds, most notably the Zetetic

2357:

Even the Culture has to compromise its ideals where diplomacy and its own security are concerned. Contact, the group that handles these issues, and Special Circumstances, its secret service division, can employ only those on whose talents and emotional stability it can rely, and may even reject

1966:

An Involved society is a highly advanced group that has achieved galaxy-wide involvement with other cultures or societies. There are a few dozen Involved societies and hundreds or thousands of well-developed (interstellar) but insufficiently influential societies or cultures. The well-developed

737:

Most Culture individuals opt to have drug glands that allow for hormonal levels and other chemical secretions to be consciously monitored, released and controlled. These allow owners to secrete on command any of a wide selection of synthetic drugs, from the merely relaxing to the mind-altering:

526:

society, where technological advances ensure that no one lacks any material goods or services. Energy is farmed from a fictitious "energy grid", and matter to build orbitals is collected mostly from asteroids. As a consequence, the Culture has no need of economic constructs such as money (as is

415:

The Culture has a grasp of technology that is advanced relative to most other civilisations with which it shares the galaxy. Most of the Culture's citizens do not live on planets but in artificial habitats such as orbitals and ships, the largest of which are home to billions of individuals. The

2312:

Ben Collier has said that the Culture is a utopia carrying significantly greater moral legitimacy than the West's, by comparison, proto-democracies. While Culture interventions can seem similar at first to Western interventions, especially when considered with their democratising rhetoric, the

1580:

The Culture has achieved artificial intelligences where each Mind has thought processing capabilities many orders of magnitude beyond that of human beings, and data storage drives which, if written out on paper and stored in filing cabinets, would cover thousands of planets skyscraper high (as

1375:

Some humanoid or drone Culture citizens have long names, often with seven or more words. Some of these words specify the citizen's origin (place of birth or manufacture), some an occupation, and some may denote specific philosophical or political alignments (chosen later in life by the citizen

865:

Physically, drones are floating units of various sizes and shapes, usually with no visible moving parts. Drones get around the limitations of this inanimation with the ability to project "fields": both those capable of physical force, which allow them to manipulate objects, as well as visible,

436:

vote of trillions – the entire population – decided The Culture would go to war with a rival civilisation. Those who objected to the Culture's subsequent militarisation broke off from the meta-civilisation, forming their own separate civilisation; a hallmark of the Culture is its ambiguity. In

1147:

However, the character of a Mind evolves as well, and Minds often change over the course of centuries, sometimes changing personality entirely. This is often followed by them becoming eccentric or at least somewhat odd. Others drift from the Culture-accepted ethical norms, and may even start

622:

This gives some measure of privacy and protection; though the very nature of Culture society would, strictly speaking, make keeping secrets irrelevant: most of them would be considered neither shameful nor criminal. It does allow the Minds in particular to scheme amongst themselves in a very

2322:

tasked with civilising foreign cultures (and thus potentially also changing them into a blander, more Culture-like state) are also those most likely to regret these changes, with parallels drawn to real-world special forces trained to operate within the cultural mindsets of foreign nations.

1922:

and may have millions or even billions of residents who live on them full-time; together with Orbitals, such ships represent the main form of habitat for the Culture. Such large ships may temporarily contain smaller ships with their own populations, and/or manufacture such ships themselves.

1668:

that is implanted into the brains of young people and grows with them, the Culture has the capability to read and store the full sentience of any being, biological or artificial, and thus reactivate a stored being after its death. The neural lace also allows wireless communication with the

1487:

The Culture has a relatively relaxed attitude towards death. Genetic manipulation and the continual benevolent surveillance of the Minds make natural or accidental death almost unknown. Advanced technology allows citizens to make backup copies of their personalities, allowing them to be

1064:

Using the sensory equipment available to the Culture, Minds can see inside solid objects; in principle they can also read minds by examining the cellular processes inside a living brain, but Culture Minds regard such mindreading as taboo. The only known Mind to break this Taboo, the

477:

In this fictional universe, the Culture exists concurrently with human society on Earth. The time frame for the published Culture stories is from 1267 CE to roughly 2970 CE, with Earth being contacted around 2100 CE, though the Culture had covertly visited the planet in the 1970s in

2648:

Not explicitly a Culture novel, but recounts what appear to be the activities of a Special Circumstances agent and a Culture emigrant on a planet whose development is roughly equivalent to that of medieval Europe. The interwoven stories are told from the viewpoint of several of the

1962:

While the Culture is one of the most advanced and most powerful of all galactic civilisations, it is still but one of the "high-level Involved" (called "Optimae" by some less advanced civilisations), the most powerful non-sublimed civilisations which mentor or control the others.

794:(though this process can be irreversible if the desired form is too removed from the structure of the human brain). Certain eccentrics have chosen to become drones or even Minds themselves, though this is considered rude and possibly even insulting by most humans and AIs alike. 468:

The novels of the Culture cycle mostly deal with people at the fringes of the Culture: diplomats, spies, or mercenaries; those who interact with other civilisations, and who do the Culture's dirty work in moving those societies closer to the Culture ideal, sometimes by force.

2784:

In the last days of the Gzilt civilisation, which is about to Sublime, a secret from far back in their history threatens to unravel their plans. Aided by a number of Culture vessels and their avatars, one of the Gzilt tries to discover if much of their history was actually a

1865:). As opposed to the smaller orbitals which revolve around a star, these structures are massive and completely encircle a star. Banks does not describe these habitats in detail, but records one as having been destroyed (along with three Spheres) in the Idiran-Culture war. In 1713:, which only reveals its complexity under a powerful microscope. Acceleration and maximum speed depend on the ratio of the mass of the ship to its engine mass. As with any other matter aboard, ships can gradually manufacture extra engine volume or break it down as needed. In 2358:

self-aware drones built for its purposes that fail to meet its requirements. Hence these divisions are regarded as the Culture's elite and membership is widely regarded as a prize; yet also something that can be shameful as it contradicts many of the Culture's moral codes.

1725:

Other than the engines used by larger Culture ships, there are a number of other propulsion methods such as gravitic drive at sublight speeds, with antimatter, fusion and other reaction engines occasionally seen with less advanced civilisations, or on Culture hobby craft.

1045:

The Culture is a society undergoing slow (by present-day Earth standards) but constant technological change, so the stated capacity of Minds is open to change. In the last 3000 years the capacity of Minds has increased considerably. By the time of the events of the novel

1933:, which is described as over 80 kilometres (50 mi) long), eating and sleeping at the many locations which provide food and accommodation throughout the structure and enjoying the various forms of contact possible with the friendly and accommodating inhabitants. 1154:

Minds are constructed with a personality typical of the Culture's interests, i.e. full of curiosity, general benevolence (expressed in the 'good works' actions of the Culture, or in the protectiveness regarding sentient beings) and respect for the Culture's customs.

1324:

Minds (and, as a consequence, Culture starships) usually bear names that do a little more than just identify them. The Minds themselves choose their own names, and thus they usually express something about a particular Mind's attitude, character or aims in their

789:

Some Culture citizens opt to leave the constraints of a human or even humanoid body altogether, opting to take on the appearance of one of the myriad other galactic sentients (perhaps in order to live with them) or even non-sentient objects as commented upon in

1729:

Warp engines can be very small, with Culture drones barely larger than fist-size described as being thus equipped. There is also at least one (apparently non-sentient) species (the "Chuy-Hirtsi" animal), that possesses the innate capability of warp travel. In

756:, speeds up the user's neural processes so that time seems to slow down, allowing them to think and have mental conversation (for example with artificial intelligences) in far less time than it appears to take to the outside observer. "Sperk", as described in 2308:

Comparisons are often made between the Culture and twentieth and twenty first century Western civilisation and nation-states, particularly their interventions in less-developed societies. These are often confused with regard to the author's assumed politics.

1099:

of several dozen cubic metres, but weighing many thousands of tons, due to the fact that it is made up of hyper-dense matter. It is noted that most of its 'body' only exists in the real world at the outer shell, the inner workings staying constantly within

1295:

Eccentric – Culture Minds who have become "... a bit odd" (as compared to the very rational standards of other Culture Minds). Existing at the fringe of the Culture, they can be considered (and consider themselves) as somewhat, but not wholly part of the

1613:, a method of creating a dimensional rift to the energy grid, releasing astronomical amounts of energy into a region of non-hyperspace, being described as a sort of ultimate weapon more destructive than collapsed antimatter bombardment. One character in 1645:

Displacement is an integral part of Culture technology, being widely used for a range of applications from peaceful to belligerent. Displacing warheads into or around targets is one of the main forms of attack in space warfare in the Culture universe.

597:

The only serious prohibitions that seem to exist are against harming sentient beings, or forcing them into undertaking any act (another concept that seems unnatural to and is, in fact, almost unheard of by almost all Culture citizens). As mentioned in

2000:

works", covertly or overtly interfering in the development of lesser civilisations, with the main aim to gradually guide them towards less damaging paths. As Culture citizens see it, these good works provide the Culture with a "moral right to exist".

2382:

Idirans. Though they posed no immediate, direct threat to the Culture, the Culture declared war because it would have felt useless if it allowed the Idirans' ruthless expansion to continue. The Culture's decision was a value-judgement rather than a

2975:

occurred about 600 years earlier ("However, as part of what were in effect war reparations after the Chel debacle, six hundred years ago..."), and repeatedly refers to the Idiran war as occurring about 1500 years earlier; the war formally ended in

932:

in fiction is that they are highly humanistic and benevolent. They are so both by design, and by their shared culture. They are often even rather eccentric. Yet, by and large, they show no wish to supplant or dominate their erstwhile creators.

2040:. During war, most of the strategic and tactical decisions are taken by the Minds, with apparently only a small number of especially gifted humans, the "Referrers", being involved in the top-level decisions, though they are not shown outside 1978:(a term used in several of Banks' Culture novels). These are entities that exist to convert as much of the universe as possible into more of themselves; most typically these are technological in nature, resembling more sophisticated forms of 2620:

to lure a civilisation (the behaviour of which they disapprove) into war; another group of Minds works against the conspiracy. A sub-plot covers how two humanoids make up their differences after traumatic events that happened 40 years

2521:

Chapters describing the current mission of a Culture special agent born and raised on a non-Culture planet alternate with chapters that describe in reverse chronological order earlier missions and the traumatic events that made him who he

487:

The Culture itself is described as having been created when several humanoid species and machine sentiences reached a certain social level, and took not only their physical, but also their civilisational evolution into their own hands. In

1516:

as being around 350 to 400 years. Some citizens choose to forgo death altogether, although this is rarely done and is viewed as an eccentricity. Other options instead of death include conversion of an individual's consciousness into an

2716:

A Culture special agent who is a princess of an early-industrial society on a huge artificial planet learns that her father and brother have been killed and decides to return to her homeworld. When she returns, she finds a far deeper

1959:

Culture is also a very graduated and constantly evolving society, its societal boundaries are also constantly in flux (though they tend to be continually expanding during the novels), peacefully "absorbing" societies and individuals.

589:

for more serious crimes). Minds generally refrain from using their all-seeing capabilities to influence people's reputations, though they are not necessarily themselves above judging people based on such observations, as described in

2365:

In dealing with less powerful regressive civilisations, the Culture usually intervenes discreetly, for example by protecting and discreetly supporting the more liberal elements, or subverting illiberal institutions. For instance, in

1246:

Culture Minds (mostly also being ships) usually give themselves whimsical names, though these often hint at their function as well. Even the names of warships retain this humorous approach, though the implications are much darker.

2682:

The Culture has interfered in the development of a race known as the Chelgrians, with disastrous consequences. Now, in the light of a star that was destroyed 800 years previously during the Idiran War, plans for revenge are being

1280:

University Sages – Minds that run Culture universities / schools, a very important function as every Culture citizen has an extensive education and further learning is considered one of the most important reasons for life in the

527:

apparent when it deals with civilisations in which money is still important). The Culture rejects all forms of economics based on anything other than voluntary activity. "Money implies poverty" is a common saying in the Culture.

690:) sentient (more properly, sapient) beings (this includes artificial intelligences). In Banks's universe, a good part (but by no means an overwhelming percentage) of all sentient species is of the "pan-human" type, as noted in 898:

have their own Minds: sapient, hyperintelligent machines originally built by biological species, which have evolved, redesigned themselves, and become many times more intelligent than their original creators. According to

1131:

Minds are constructed entities, which have general parameters fixed by their constructors (other Minds) before 'birth', not unlike biological beings. A wide variety of characteristics can be and are manipulated, such as

1169:) scenarios, an activity addictive enough to cause some Minds to totally withdraw from caring about our own physical reality into "Infinite Fun Space", their own, ironic and understated term for this sort of activity. 602:, the Culture does have the occasional "crime of passion" (as described by an Azadian) and the punishment was to be "slap-droned", or to have a drone assigned to follow the offender and "make sure don't do it again". 2370:, the Culture operates within a less advanced illiberal society through control of a business cartel which is known for its humanitarian and social development investments, as well as generic good Samaritanism. In 2985:

Banks in an interview stated, "This one takes place about eight hundred years later on in the chronology of the culture"; at the time he was speaking the latest book in the culture chronology was set around 2167

2493:

A bored member of the Culture is blackmailed into being the Culture's agent in a plan to subvert a brutal, hierarchical empire. His mission is to win an empire-wide tournament by which the ruler of the empire is

2839:

is particularly popular because of its copious detail concerning the Ships and Minds of the Culture, its great AIs: their outrageous names, their dangerous senses of humour. Is this what gods would actually be

963:

As mentioned before, Minds can serve several different purposes, but Culture ships and habitats have one special attribute: the Mind and the ship or habitat are perceived as one entity; in some ways the Mind

800:

As all Culture citizens are of perfect genetic health, the very rare cases of a Culture citizen showing any physical deformity are almost certain to be a sort of fashion statement of somewhat dubious taste.

2895:

the events of the book are almost simultaneous with Diziet Sma's writing an account of her visit to Earth in 1977. In her preface to this account in "The State of the Art", she dates the visit to 115 years

836:

As well as humans and other biological species, sentient artificial intelligences are also members of the Culture. These can be broadly categorised into drones and Minds. Also, by custom, as described in

2751:

A young woman seeks revenge on her murderer after being brought back to life by Culture technology. Meanwhile, a war over the digitized souls of the dead is expanding from cyberspace into the real world.

1492:

in case of death. The form of that resurrection can be specified by the citizen, with personalities returning either in the same biological form, in an artificial form (see below), or even just within

750:

as "The Culture's favourite breakfast drug". "Sharp Blue" is described as a utility drug, as opposed to a sensory enhancer or a sexual stimulant, that helps in problem solving. "Quicken", mentioned in

412:

are humanoids who have chosen to work for the Culture's diplomatic or espionage organs, and interact with other civilisations whose citizens act under different ideologies, morals, and technologies.

1021:, thus continually improving itself and, as a side benefit, becoming much less vulnerable to outside takeover by electronic means and viruses, as every Mind's processing functions work differently. 2374:, a sub-group of Minds conspires to provoke a war with the extremely sadistic Affront, although the conspiracy is foiled by a GSV that is a deep cover Special Circumstances agent. Only one story, 400:

variety, artificially intelligent sentient machines, and a small number of other sentient "alien" life forms. Machine intelligences range from human-equivalent drones to hyper-intelligent Minds.

776:, it is mentioned that a character "looks like a Yeti", and that there is variance among the Culture in minor details such as the number of toes or of joints on each finger. It is mentioned in 615:

relies on a Hub Mind not reading an agent's mind (with certain precautions in case this rule gets violated). Minds that do so anyway are considered deviant and shunned by other Minds (see GCU

437:

contrast to the many interstellar societies and empires which share its fictional universe, the Culture is difficult to define, geographically or sociologically, and "fades out at the edges".

408:. Without scarcity, the Culture has no need for money; instead, Minds voluntarily indulge humanoid and drone citizens' pleasures, leading to a largely hedonistic society. Many of the series' 204: 1839:

Culture. A small number of home worlds of the founding member-species of the Culture receive a mention in passing, and a few hundred human-habitable worlds were colonised (some of them

1642:

small (1 in 61 million) that it normally only becomes an issue when transporting a large number of people and is only regularly brought up due to the Culture's safety conscious nature.

2048:

that actual decisions to go to war (as opposed to purely defensive actions) are based on a vote of all Culture citizens, presumably after vigorous discussion within the whole society.

1433:

this is known as "completing one's name"). As with all conventions in the Culture, it may be broken or ignored: some change their chosen name during their lives, some never take one.

1158:

Nonetheless, Minds have their own interests in addition to what their peers expect them to do for the Culture, and may develop fascinations or hobbies like other sentient beings do.

1982:, but the term can be applied to cultures that are sufficiently single-minded in their devotion to mass conquest, control, and colonisation. Both the Culture and the author (in his 828:, dangerous individuals have been known to be assigned a "slap-drone", a robotic follower who ensures that the person in question doesn't continue to endanger the safety of others. 2808:

just too nice – altering their genetic inheritance to make themselves relatively sane and rational and not the genocidal, murdering bastards that we seem to be half the time.

984:

With their almost godlike powers of reasoning and action comes a temptation to bend (or break) Cultural norms of ethical behaviour, if deemed necessary for some greater good. In

810:

produce persons that, in any lesser society, appear very self-composed and charismatic. Character traits like strong shyness, while very rare, are not fully unknown, as shown in

717:

it is noted that Minds still find humans fascinating, especially their odd ability to sometimes achieve similarly advanced reasoning as their much more complex machine brains.

453:, stable society without the use of any form of force or compulsion, except where necessary to protect others. That being said, some citizens, including the extremely powerful 416:

Culture's citizens have been genetically enhanced to live for centuries and have modified mental control over their physiology, including the ability to introduce a variety of

619:). At one point it is said that if the Culture actually had written laws, the sanctity of one's own thoughts against the intrusion of others would be the first on the books. 98: 1277:

Stores – Minds of a quiet temperament run these asteroids, containing vast hangars, full of mothballed military ships or other equipment. Some 'Rocks' also act as 'Stores'.

1529:). It is noted that even Minds themselves do not necessarily live forever either, often choosing to eventually sublime or even killing themselves (as does the double-Mind 2914:

The Gray Area reflects that the Excession is the most dangerous thing to be seen in the galaxy since the worst days of Idiran war, which took place five centuries before.

3825: 797:

While the Culture is generally pan-humanoid (and tends to call itself "human"), various other species and individuals of other species have become part of the Culture.

1119:. However, this equipment would more correctly be considered emplaced in the ship or orbital that the Mind is controlling, rather than being part of the Mind itself. 1601:

society, the Culture is obviously able to gather, manipulate, transfer and store vast amounts of energy. While not explained in detail in the novels, this involves

544:

the Culture. The symbols of the Marain alphabet can be displayed in three-by-three grids of binary (yes/no, black/white) dots and thus correspond to nine-bit wide

1944:

also exist in the Culture universe but receive only passing mention as "Spheres". Three spheres are recorded as having been destroyed in the Idiran-Culture war.

424:

at will. Culture technology is able to transfer individuals into vastly different body forms, although the Culture standard form remains fairly close to human.

3105: 772:

uniform. Human members in the Culture setting vary in size, colour and shape as in reality, and with possibly even further natural differences: in the novella

1274:

Rocks – Minds in charge of planetoid-like structures, built/accreted, mostly from the earliest times of the Culture before it moved into space-built orbitals.

1376:

themselves), or make other similarly personal statements. An example would be Diziet Sma, whose full name is Rasd-Coduresa Diziet Embless Sma da' Marenhide:

461:, sometimes engage in the manipulation of others. This can include influencing or controlling the development of alien societies, through the group known as 1185:

the Mind and vice versa; there are no different names for the two, and a spaceship without a Mind would be considered damaged or incomplete to the Culture.

4124: 1709:

These hyperspace engines do not use reaction mass and hence do not need to be mounted on the surface of the ship. They are described as being very dense

2264:

or not, the Culture could resemble various posited egalitarian societies including in the writings of Karl Marx, the end condition of communism after a

274: 267: 2032:

While the Culture is normally pacifist, Contact historically acts as its military arm in times of war and Special Circumstances can be considered its

1637:

capable of transporting both living and unliving matter instantaneously via wormholes. This technology has not rendered spacecraft obsolete – in

1521:, joining of a group mind (which can include biological and non-biological consciousnesses), or subliming (usually in association with a group mind). 1061:

said, It is possible for Minds to have upgrades, improvements and enhancements given to them since construction, to allow them to remain up to date.

2056:, this is a standard Culture tactic, with its strong emphasis on protecting its citizens rather than sacrificing some of them for short-term goals. 1781:

bubbles of atmosphere enclosed by force fields, and (presumably) set up by an ancient advanced race at least one and a half billion years ago (see:

1496:. Some citizens choose to go into "storage" (a form of suspended animation) for long periods of time, out of boredom or curiosity about the future. 3961:

Rumpala, Yannick (2012), "Artificial intelligences and political organization: An exploration based on the science fiction work of Iain M. Banks",

2865:

Early in the book it is stated that the war has been going on for four years, while the historical appendix states that the war began in 1327 CE. (

4159: 874:

personal preference. Some drones are also designed as utility equipment with its own sentience, such as the gelfield protective suit described in

1929:, the protagonist Zakalwe is allowed to acclimatise himself to the Culture by wandering for days through the habitable levels of a ship (the GSV 216: 4367: 2882:

was "constructed seven hundred and sixteen years earlier in the closing stages of the Idiran war, when the conflict in space was almost over".(

1259:

Some Minds also take on functions which either preclude or discourage movement. These usually administer various types of Culture facilities:

4392: 1785:). There is only minimal gravity within an airsphere. They are illuminated by moon-sized orbiting planetoids that emit enormous light beams. 1722:. Within the range of the Culture's influence in the galaxy, most ships would still take years of travelling to reach the more remote spots. 2460:

An episode in a full-scale war between the Culture and the Idirans, told mainly from the point of view of an operative of the Idiran Empire.

1056:

are referred to jocularly as minds, with a small 'm'. Their capacities only allow them to be considered equivalent to what are now known as

990:, a Culture citizen is blackmailed, apparently by Special Circumstances Minds, into assisting the overthrow of a barbaric empire, while in 2329:

are an example of just how dirty Special Circumstances will play in order to get their way and the conspiracy at the heart of the plot of

2886:) The war in space ended in 1367. The events of the book take place over a period of four to five years from the time of this statement. 2362:

avoid creating public pressure for actions they consider imprudent or to prevent other civilisations from exploiting certain situations.

1749:

One of the primary clandestine uses of nanotechnology is information gathering. The Culture likes to be in the know, and as described in

1088:

bomb onto a Culture orbital inside the head of a Chelgrian agent. However the bomb ends up being spotted without the taboo being broken.

102: 870:, is described as being constructed before the use of auras, and refuses to be retrofitted with them, preferring to remain inscrutable. 4387: 2932:

It is stated the GCU Problem Child found the black Dwarf star, and the first Excession, 2500 years before the events of the main plot.

981:

board warships may discourage such recklessness, since in the normal course of things, a Mind would not risk beings other than itself.

2803:

magazine (June 1996) whether mankind's fate depends on having intelligent machines running things, as in the Culture, Banks replied:

2350:. The Culture itself is an "ideal-typical" liberal society; that is, as pure an example as one can reasonably imagine. It is highly 4228: 1706:

real space; once there, "engine fields" reach down to the Grid and gain power and traction from it as they travel at high speeds.

1165:

to be vast enough to run entire universe-simulations inside their own imaginations, exploring metamathical (a fictional branch of

854:

intercourse for pleasure, called being "in thrall", though this is an intellect-only interfacing with another sympathetic drone.

1181:

One of the main activities of Ship Minds is the guidance of spaceships from a certain minimum size upwards. A culture spaceship

1769:

The Culture, and other civilisations in Banks' universe, are described as living in these various, often constructed habitats:

4024: 2068:, while infantry combat suits of great power (also usable as capable combat drones when without living occupants) are used in 4397: 4188: 3999: 3943: 3916: 3857: 3703: 3684: 2820:

has been going on for decades and mainstream society is beginning to catch up to the implications of artificial intelligence.

1869:, the Morthanveld people possesses ringworld-like structures made of innumerable various-sized tubes. Those structures, like 17: 937:

the mythology, a Mind is not thought to be a god, still, but an artificial intelligence capable of surprise, and even fear.

682:

space-faring species coalesced into a quasi-collective (a group-civilisation) ultimately consisting of approximately thirty

4407: 2335: 1885:

Rocks do not play a large part in most of the Culture stories, though their use as storage for mothballed military ships (

1299:

Sabbaticaler – Culture Minds who have decided to abdicate from their peer-pressure based duties in the Culture for a time.

317: 925:

and automating societal functions, and by handling day-to-day administration with mere fractions of their mental power.

289: 3722: 2776: 2565:

in charge of an expedition to Earth decides not to make contact or intervene in any way, but instead to use Earth as a

1308:

Absconder – Minds who have completely left the Culture, especially when in doing so having deserted some form of task.

4146: 3665: 3646: 3627: 3568: 3549: 3530: 2743: 2708: 2674: 2640: 2608: 2541: 2513: 2485: 2452: 2250: 2232: 2170: 2148: 2113: 1650:

mentions that drones can be displaced to catch a person falling from a cliff before they impact the ground, as well.

354: 336: 234: 124: 70: 2214: 2141: 4402: 4372: 296: 2941:

The book says it occurs about 800 years after events near the end of the fighting in space in the Idiran War.

1148:

influencing their own society in subtle ways, selfishly furthering their own views of how the Culture should act.

917:

In the Culture universe, Minds have become an indispensable part of the prevailing society, enabling much of its

404:

with capabilities measured as a fraction of human intelligence also perform a variety of tasks, e.g. controlling

106: 153: 4377: 3580: 2905:

At the end of the main narrative stream, Zakalwe says it has been two centuries since the battleship was taken.

2199: 903:, a Mind is an ellipsoid object roughly the size of a bus and weighing around 15,000 tons. A Mind is in fact a 4130: 1861:-like megastructures exist in the Culture universe; the texts refer to them simply as "Rings" (with a capital 4382: 4362: 303: 1814:

One of the main types of habitats of the Culture, an orbital is a ring structure orbiting a star as would a

1115:

Other equipment available to them spans the whole range of the Culture's technological capabilities and its

4221: 2099: 1694: 1665: 1101: 56: 30:

This article is about the fictional civilisation in Iain Banks' Culture series novels. For other uses, see

1954:

The Culture, living mostly on massive spaceships and in artificial habitats, and also feeling no need for

1806:, require a force field to retain their integrity, and arose by artificial rather than natural processes. 862:) and must choose either mental reprofiling or demilitarisation and discharge from Special Circumstances. 4095: 2265: 1690:, and are considered to be self-contained representations of all aspects of Culture life and capability. 675: 1302:

Ulterior – Minds of the Culture Ulterior, an umbrella term for all the no-longer-quite-Culture factions.

285: 4357: 2814:

even the actuality of the Culture's utopia, but it doesn't last very long – that's the difference.

540: 1471:

is used in Sma's name because the house name begins with an M, eliding an awkward phoneme repetition.)

2416:

The Culture series comprises nine novels and one short story collection ordered by publication date:

494:, the Culture is described as having existed as a space-faring society for eleven thousand years. In 2378:, pits the Culture against a highly illiberal society of approximately equal power: the aggressive, 841:, any artefact (be it a tool or vessel) above a certain capability level has to be given sentience. 4417: 3609: 2409: 2135: 1512:

for emotional reasons, or choices like sublimation, the average lifespan of humans is described in

910:, meaning that the ellipsoid is only the protrusion of the larger four dimensional device into our 31: 1792:

The airspheres resemble in some respects the orbit-sized ring of breathable atmosphere created by

1305:

Converts – Minds (or sentient computers) from other societies who have chosen to join the Culture.

1271:, with large numbers of people living on the inside surface of them, in a planet-like environment. 4286: 4214: 3603: 2554: 2210: 1568:, a Culture warship uses its electromagnetic effectors to hack into a computer light years away. 929: 558: 454: 401: 263: 93:

may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience

2826: 2724: 2550: 2152: 904: 683: 3845: 3733: 3003:

has not been seen in almost 500 years; also, that it is about 1000 years after the Idiran war.

1429:

is her chosen name. Most Culture citizens choose this when they reach adulthood (according to

3874:

Lippens, Ronnie (2002), "Imachinations of Peace: Scientifictions of Peace in Iain M. Banks's

2277: 2037: 1819: 1734:, it is being used as a military transport by the Idirans, but no further details are given. 1264: 895: 687: 405: 4071: 2288:. Other characteristics of The Culture that are recognisable in real world politics include 1561:, spaceships are still used for long-distance travel and drones for many remote activities. 4412: 4352: 4279: 3759:

Blackmore, Tim (2010), "Save Now ? Machine Memory at War in Iain Banks' Look to Windward",

2962:

has been wandering for 800 years, having begun at the end of its service in the Idiran War.

2553:. Two of the works are explicitly set in the Culture universe ("The State of the Art" and " 2529: 1673:

and databases. This also necessitates the capability to read thoughts, but as described in

1554: 657: 536: 480: 4206: 2616:

An alien artifact far advanced beyond the Culture's understanding is used by one group of

8: 4330: 4265: 2758: 2467: 1955: 1026: 986: 746: 577:

are enforced by convention (personal reputation, "good manners", and by, as described in

553: 496: 490: 310: 3826:"Culture Clash: Ambivalent Heroes and the Ambiguous Utopia in the Work of Iain M. Banks" 2557:"), with a third work ("Descendant") possibly set in the Culture universe. In the title 1617:

refers to gridfire as "the weaponry of the end of the universe". Gridfire resembles the

1151:

Minds have also been known to commit suicide to escape punishment, or because of grief.

4302: 3812: 3784: 2628: 2617: 2562: 1975: 1798: 1670: 606: 458: 4194: 4184: 4005: 3995: 3978: 3949: 3939: 3936:

The Culture of "The Culture": Utopian Processes in Iain M. Banks's Space Opera Series

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an example is cited of an attempt to destroy a Culture Mind by smuggling a minuscule

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and "terror weapons" (basically intelligent, nano-form assassins) are mentioned in

2006: 1782: 1384: 1080: 1034: 1016: 713: 647: 633: 611: 433: 62: 3974: 3795:

Brown, Chris (2001), "'Special Circumstances': Intervention by a Liberal Utopia",

3808: 3588: 2293: 2273: 2269: 1493: 1166: 3846:"Outside Context Problems: Liberalism and the Other in the Work of Iain M.Banks" 1693:

The Culture (and most other space-faring species in its universe) use a form of

1311:

Deranged – A more extreme version of Eccentric as implied in The Hydrogen Sonata

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spaceship. Like Orbitals, they are usually administered by one or more Minds.

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With the control of a Mind, fields can be manipulated over vast distances. In

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abilities, closely related to their ability to manipulate forces themselves.

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The Culture holds peace and individual freedom as core values, and a central

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The Culture also uses various forms of energy manipulation as weapons, with

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Iain Banks gave his own Culture name as "Sun-Earther Iain El-Bonko Banks of

105:

any relevant information, and removing excessive detail that may be against

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in the Culture's long-term comparison of intervention and non-interference.

2346:

The Culture stories are largely about problems and paradoxes that confront

1941: 1840: 1827: 1702: 1547: 1504:). These citizens are sometimes called "disposables", and are described in 1489: 1392: 1137: 1133: 522:

people who take on the work out of free choice). As such, the Culture is a

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In the series, the Culture is composed primarily of sentient beings of the

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society, having overcome most physical constraints on life and being an

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explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective

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Elench and the ultra-pacifist and non-interventionist Peace Faction.

642: 586: 582: 2217:. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. 252: 2289: 1979: 1078:, is largely ostracized and shunned by other Minds as a result. In 769: 730: 708: 679: 652: 518: 3103:

Bertetti, Paolo (2022). "The Linguistic Shape of Things to Come".

2510:

2092 CE main narrative. 1892 CE start of secondary narrative.

1423:

is her given name. This is chosen by a parent, usually the mother.

1329:. They range from funny to just plain cryptic. Some examples are: 2958:

as occurring 20 years previously; however, it also says that the

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a threat to either the welfare or the values of the Culture. In

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in English. By this convention, Earth humans would all be named

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include General Systems Vehicle (GSV), Medium Systems Vehicle (

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The main difference between Minds and other extremely powerful

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For all their genetic improvements, the Culture is by no means

1243:

of their own, such mobility is likely very important to most.

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On the other hand, the Culture can be seen as fundamentally

678:

society, which originally arose when seven or eight roughly

4236: 4096:"Interview: Iain M Banks talks 'Surface Detail' with Wired" 1873:'s Ringworld, encircle a star and are about the same size. 421: 3367: 1546:

The Culture (and other societies) have developed powerful

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in the mid 19th century, Minds from the first millennium

977:

s, though smaller ships only ever seem to have one Mind.

623:

efficient manner, and occasionally withhold information.

420:

into their systems, change biological sex, or switch off

168: 4181:

Culture Series of Iain M. Banks: A Critical Introduction

3852:, University of South Carolina Press, pp. 235–258, 3302: 3067: 2387:

calculation, and the "Peace Faction" within the Culture

2060:

combat drones equipped with knife missiles do appear in

164: 4126:

Becoming More Like The Culture, No. 1: Economics (v0.1)

3992:

Space and beyond: the frontier theme in science fiction

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civilisation or society created by the Scottish writer

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artificial worlds in their own right, including whole

631:

The Culture has no flag, symbol or logo. According to

203:

describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily

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The book states that the Interesting Times Gang from

1677:, doing this without permission is considered taboo. 1203:), General Contact Unit (GCU), Limited Contact Unit ( 1032:

The storage capability of a GSV Mind is described in

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It is stated Dajeil has been pregnant for 40 years.

1346:

All Through With This Niceness And Negotiation Stuff

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Banks has evolved a (self-confessedly) 1541: 1533:due to its choices in the Culture-Idiran war). 1200: 1196: 1095:, a typical Mind is described as a mirror-like 1057: 974: 3843: 3384: 1216: 1212: 1192: 4222: 3761:Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society 1239:–synonym for dGOU or dLOU), and Superlifter. 785:clouds of cohesive smoke and animated bushes. 551:Related comments are made by the narrator in 163:. Consider transferring direct quotations to 3994:, Westport, Conn.; London: Greenwood Press, 1680: 1653: 1208: 1204: 1066: 956:, Minds most closely approach the status of 3850:New Boundaries in Political Science Fiction 2114:Learn how and when to remove these messages 71:Learn how and when to remove these messages 4229: 4215: 1571: 573:There are no laws as such in the Culture. 4016: 3758: 3207: 2251:Learn how and when to remove this message 2233:Learn how and when to remove this message 2171:Learn how and when to remove this message 1846:This attitude is not absolute though; in 1606:powerful manipulatory fields and forces. 1536: 1053: 911: 355:Learn how and when to remove this message 337:Learn how and when to remove this message 235:Learn how and when to remove this message 125:Learn how and when to remove this message 4069: 3989: 3449: 3165: 3102: 2134:This section includes a list of general 1232: 1017: 905: 445:The Culture is characterized as being a 27:Fictional universe created by Iain Banks 4122: 4093: 4045: 3960: 3873: 3848:, in Hassler, D.M.; Wilcox, C. (eds.), 3823: 3476: 3401: 3361: 3195: 3148: 2987: 2794: 1387:of her birth, and the specific object ( 1144:(for warships) or general disposition. 1015:that every Culture Mind writes its own 14: 4345: 4178: 4157: 4022: 3933: 3906: 3413: 3255: 3180: 1974:The Involved are also contrasted with 1624: 1592: 513:The Culture is a symbiotic society of 503: 273:Please improve this article by adding 4368:Fiction about artificial intelligence 4210: 4147:"The novelist who inspired Elon Musk" 4144: 3794: 3731: 3712: 3693: 3674: 3655: 3636: 3617: 3578: 3558: 3539: 3520: 3500: 3488: 3464: 3437: 3425: 3349: 3332: 3320: 3308: 3296: 3279: 3267: 3243: 3231: 3219: 3136: 3090: 3073: 3061: 3046: 3031: 2883: 2866: 2756: 2722: 2688: 2654: 2626: 2574: 2527: 2499: 2465: 2435: 1629:The Culture (at least by the time of 973:practice for larger vehicles such as 154:too many or overly lengthy quotations 4393:Fiction about consciousness transfer 4094:Parsons, Michael (14 October 2010), 3911:, Little, Brown Book Group Limited, 3752: 2410:Culture series § Books in the series 2403:List of books describing the Culture 2182: 2120: 2079: 1949:Interaction with other civilisations 472: 246: 187: 136: 77: 36: 2971:The book states that the events of 2027: 1460:in German. (The usual formation is 1236: 462: 24: 4171: 3824:Horwich, David (21 January 2002), 3514: 2140:it lacks sufficient corresponding 949:Although the Culture is a type of 25: 4429: 4388:Fiction about genetic engineering 4158:Newitz, Annalee (27 March 2017), 3579:Banks, Iain M. (10 August 1994). 2095:This section has multiple issues. 1994: 1737: 1664:Through "neural lace", a form of 1235:–synonym for dROU), Fast Picket ( 52:This article has multiple issues. 4023:Horton, Richard (5 March 1997), 2408:This section is an excerpt from 2341: 2187: 2125: 2084: 2076:Relevance to real-world politics 1742:The Culture has highly advanced 1553:In this ability they can create 1399:suffix is roughly equivalent to 1009:point moot. It is also noted in 378:and features in a number of his 251: 192: 141: 82: 41: 4116: 3509: 2993: 2979: 2965: 2944: 2935: 2926: 2917: 2908: 2899: 2889: 2872: 2103:or discuss these issues on the 1760: 1117:practically limitless resources 1029:(though they remain sentient). 535:Marain is the Culture's shared 60:or discuss these issues on the 3909:The future of another timeline 3096: 1905:Shellworlds are introduced in 1900: 804: 515:artificial intelligences (AIs) 13: 1: 4123:Collier, Ben (18 July 2013), 3975:10.1016/j.techsoc.2011.12.005 3010: 2767: 2734: 2699: 2665: 2599: 2592: 2585: 2538:varies (title story: 1977 CE) 2476: 1772: 1364:Funny, It Worked Last Time... 1342:– a habitation / factory ship 1336:– a habitation / factory ship 831: 763: 724: 669: 432:citizens. In one instance, a 275:secondary or tertiary sources 4398:Fiction about nanotechnology 4145:Cross, Tim (31 March 2017), 3809:10.1177/03058298010300031601 3581:"A Few Notes on the Culture" 2316: 1542:Anti-gravity and forcefields 1199:), General Contact Vehicle ( 1195:), Limited Systems Vehicle ( 814:. As described there and in 645:fiction including Pravic in 370:is a fictional interstellar 107:Knowledge's inclusion policy 7: 4408:Science fiction book series 3938:, Oxford University Press, 2266:withering away of the state 2213:the claims made and adding 1809: 1215:), Limited Offensive Unit ( 1211:), General Offensive Unit ( 1112:sensors as also described. 664: 539:. The Culture believes the 530: 440: 10: 4434: 3934:Norman, Joseph S. (2021), 3385:Jackson & Heilman 2008 2733:sometime between 2767 and 2407: 1936: 1833: 1659: 1657: 1633:) has developed a form of 1358:Of Course I Still Love You 1267:is a smaller version of a 626: 508: 386:, collectively called the 29: 4248: 4046:Johnson, Greg L. (2008), 2824:In a 2002 interview with 2782: 2749: 2714: 2680: 2646: 2614: 2547: 2519: 2491: 2458: 2303: 1681:Starships and warp drives 1654:Brain–computer interfaces 1581:described by one Mind in 1207:), Rapid Offensive Unit ( 844: 4070:Langford, David (1998), 3907:Newitz, Annalee (2019), 3773:10.1177/0270467610373816 2852: 1916: 1876: 1853: 1666:brain–computer interface 1525:in a risky mission, see 1482: 1370: 930:artificial intelligences 881: 559:gender-specific pronouns 455:artificial intelligences 402:Artificial intelligences 161:summarize the quotations 32:culture (disambiguation) 4403:Fictional civilizations 4373:Fiction about wormholes 4287:A Gift from the Culture 4179:Caroti, Simone (2015). 3990:Westfahl, Gary (2006), 3738:Trevor Hopkins Homepage 3734:"A few Notes on Marain" 3732:Banks, Iain M. (n.d.), 3713:Banks, Iain M. (2012), 3694:Banks, Iain M. (2010), 3675:Banks, Iain M. (2008), 3656:Banks, Iain M. (2000), 3637:Banks, Iain M. (1998), 3618:Banks, Iain M. (1996), 3559:Banks, Iain M. (1991). 3540:Banks, Iain M. (1988), 3521:Banks, Iain M. (1987), 2950:The book refers to the 2555:A Gift from the Culture 2155:more precise citations. 1597:A major feature of its 1572:Artificial intelligence 1038:as 10 bytes (1 million 738:"Snap" is described in 587:involuntary supervision 568: 4026:Use of Weapons: Review 4017:Interviews and Reviews 3698:, Orbit, p. 400, 2850: 2842: 2830:magazine, when asked: 2827:Science Fiction Weekly 2822: 2816: 2810: 2551:short story collection 1986:) find this behaviour 1537:Science and technology 1227:), Demilitarised LOU ( 1223:), Demilitarised GOU ( 1219:), Demilitarised ROU ( 787: 541:Sapir–Whorf hypothesis 262:relies excessively on 4378:Fiction about cyborgs 3963:Technology in Society 2846: 2832: 2817: 2811: 2805: 2605: BCE flashbacks. 2278:libertarian socialism 2038:military intelligence 1931:Size Isn't Everything 1334:Sanctioned Parts List 1231:), Very Fast Picket ( 782: 18:Orbital (The Culture) 4383:Fiction about robots 4363:Communism in fiction 4280:The State of the Art 3608:: CS1 maint: year ( 3561:The State of the Art 3119:10.2478/lf-2022-0025 3106:Linguistic Frontiers 2795:Banks on the Culture 2530:The State of the Art 1984:Notes on the Culture 1802:, but spherical not 1660:Death in the Culture 1555:action-at-a-distance 1366:– an ambassador ship 1360:– an ambassador ship 1340:So Much For Subtlety 774:The State of the Art 658:Nineteen Eighty-Four 537:constructed language 517:(Minds and drones), 481:The State of the Art 382:novels and works of 4331:The Hydrogen Sonata 4266:The Player of Games 3876:The Player of Games 3715:The Hydrogen Sonata 3589:rec.arts.sf.written 3542:The Player of Games 3323:, p. 211, 306. 2759:The Hydrogen Sonata 2468:The Player of Games 2268:, the anarchism of 1976:hegemonising swarms 1648:The Player of Games 1631:The Player of Games 1625:Matter displacement 1593:Energy manipulation 1431:The Player of Games 1027:orders of magnitude 987:The Player of Games 860:The Player of Games 747:The Player of Games 600:The Player of Games 579:The Player of Games 554:The Player of Games 504:Society and culture 497:The Hydrogen Sonata 491:The Player of Games 4033:on 28 January 2017 3311:, p. 166–167. 2198:possibly contains 1799:The Integral Trees 1697:-drive to achieve 1531:GSV Lasting Damage 1527:GSV Lasting Damage 418:psychoactive drugs 4358:Anarchist fiction 4340: 4339: 4190:978-0-7864-9447-7 4001:978-0-313-30846-8 3945:978-1-78962-174-7 3918:978-0-356-51123-8 3859:978-1-57003-736-8 3753:Secondary Sources 3705:978-1-84149-893-5 3686:978-1-84149-417-3 2790: 2789: 2591:CE main setting. 2348:liberal societies 2286:anarcho-communism 2282:council communism 2261: 2260: 2253: 2243: 2242: 2235: 2200:original research 2181: 2180: 2173: 2118: 2044:. It is shown in 1818:akin to a bigger 1779:brown dwarf-sized 1699:faster-than-light 1619:zero-point energy 1477:North Queensferry 1456:being similar to 1352:Attitude Adjuster 1263:Orbital Hubs – A 1189:Ship Mind classes 674:The Culture is a 473:Fictional history 434:direct democratic 365: 364: 357: 347: 346: 339: 321: 245: 244: 237: 186: 185: 135: 134: 127: 75: 16:(Redirected from 4425: 4310:Look to Windward 4259:Consider Phlebas 4231: 4224: 4217: 4208: 4207: 4202: 4166: 4153: 4141: 4140: 4138: 4129:, archived from 4111: 4110: 4108: 4089: 4088: 4086: 4072:"Iain M. Banks: 4065: 4064: 4062: 4041: 4040: 4038: 4029:, archived from 4012: 3985: 3956: 3929: 3902: 3869: 3868: 3866: 3839: 3838: 3836: 3830:Strange Horizons 3819: 3791: 3747: 3746: 3744: 3727: 3708: 3689: 3670: 3658:Look to Windward 3651: 3632: 3613: 3607: 3599: 3597: 3595: 3574: 3554: 3535: 3523:Consider Phlebas 3504: 3498: 3492: 3486: 3480: 3474: 3468: 3462: 3453: 3447: 3441: 3435: 3429: 3423: 3417: 3411: 3405: 3399: 3388: 3382: 3365: 3359: 3353: 3347: 3336: 3330: 3324: 3318: 3312: 3306: 3300: 3294: 3283: 3277: 3271: 3265: 3259: 3253: 3247: 3241: 3235: 3229: 3223: 3217: 3211: 3205: 3199: 3193: 3184: 3178: 3169: 3163: 3152: 3146: 3140: 3134: 3123: 3122: 3100: 3094: 3088: 3077: 3071: 3065: 3059: 3050: 3044: 3035: 3029: 3004: 2997: 2991: 2983: 2977: 2973:Look to Windward 2969: 2963: 2960:Liveware Problem 2948: 2942: 2939: 2933: 2930: 2924: 2921: 2915: 2912: 2906: 2903: 2897: 2893: 2887: 2876: 2870: 2863: 2772: 2769: 2739: 2736: 2704: 2701: 2670: 2667: 2657:Look to Windward 2604: 2601: 2597: 2594: 2590: 2587: 2481: 2478: 2438:Consider Phlebas 2419: 2418: 2376:Consider Phlebas 2256: 2249: 2238: 2231: 2227: 2224: 2218: 2215:inline citations 2191: 2190: 2183: 2176: 2169: 2165: 2162: 2156: 2151:this section by 2142:inline citations 2129: 2128: 2121: 2110: 2088: 2087: 2080: 2066:Look to Windward 2046:Consider Phlebas 2042:Consider Phlebas 2028:Behaviour in war 2007:Look to Windward 1950: 1889:) and habitats ( 1848:Consider Phlebas 1783:Look to Windward 1777:These are vast, 1732:Consider Phlebas 1675:Look to Windward 1615:Consider Phlebas 1583:Consider Phlebas 1559:Look to Windward 1506:Look to Windward 1469: 1450: 1385:planetary system 1320: 1319: 1290: 1289: 1255: 1254: 1238: 1234: 1230: 1226: 1222: 1218: 1214: 1210: 1206: 1202: 1198: 1194: 1177: 1176: 1127: 1126: 1109:Consider Phlebas 1093:Consider Phlebas 1081:Look to Windward 1068: 1059: 1055: 1035:Consider Phlebas 1019: 1004: 1003: 976: 969:from a warship. 945: 944: 913: 907: 901:Consider Phlebas 868:Consider Phlebas 714:Consider Phlebas 648:The Dispossessed 634:Consider Phlebas 612:Look to Windward 360: 353: 342: 335: 331: 328: 322: 320: 279: 255: 247: 240: 233: 229: 226: 220: 196: 195: 188: 181: 178: 172: 145: 144: 137: 130: 123: 119: 116: 110: 86: 85: 78: 67: 45: 44: 37: 21: 4433: 4432: 4428: 4427: 4426: 4424: 4423: 4422: 4418:Utopian fiction 4343: 4342: 4341: 4336: 4244: 4235: 4205: 4191: 4174: 4172:Further reading 4136: 4134: 4133:on 22 July 2013 4119: 4106: 4104: 4084: 4082: 4060: 4058: 4036: 4034: 4019: 4002: 3946: 3919: 3880:Utopian Studies 3864: 3862: 3860: 3834: 3832: 3755: 3742: 3740: 3725: 3706: 3687: 3668: 3649: 3630: 3601: 3600: 3593: 3591: 3571: 3552: 3533: 3517: 3515:Primary Sources 3512: 3507: 3499: 3495: 3487: 3483: 3475: 3471: 3463: 3456: 3448: 3444: 3436: 3432: 3424: 3420: 3412: 3408: 3400: 3391: 3383: 3368: 3360: 3356: 3348: 3339: 3331: 3327: 3319: 3315: 3307: 3303: 3295: 3286: 3278: 3274: 3266: 3262: 3254: 3250: 3242: 3238: 3230: 3226: 3218: 3214: 3206: 3202: 3194: 3187: 3179: 3172: 3164: 3155: 3147: 3143: 3135: 3126: 3101: 3097: 3089: 3080: 3072: 3068: 3060: 3053: 3045: 3038: 3030: 3017: 3013: 3008: 3007: 2998: 2994: 2984: 2980: 2970: 2966: 2952:Sleeper Service 2949: 2945: 2940: 2936: 2931: 2927: 2922: 2918: 2913: 2909: 2904: 2900: 2894: 2890: 2880:Limiting Factor 2877: 2873: 2864: 2860: 2855: 2848:If we're lucky. 2844:Banks replied: 2797: 2792: 2791: 2786: 2770: 2752: 2737: 2718: 2702: 2684: 2668: 2650: 2622: 2602: 2595: 2588: 2570: 2523: 2495: 2479: 2461: 2428:Date of setting 2425:First published 2413: 2405: 2344: 2319: 2306: 2294:post-capitalism 2257: 2246: 2245: 2244: 2239: 2228: 2222: 2219: 2204: 2192: 2188: 2177: 2166: 2160: 2157: 2147:Please help to 2146: 2130: 2126: 2089: 2085: 2078: 2054:Player of Games 2030: 1997: 1952: 1939: 1919: 1903: 1879: 1856: 1836: 1812: 1775: 1763: 1740: 1683: 1662: 1656: 1627: 1595: 1574: 1544: 1539: 1494:virtual reality 1485: 1467: 1448: 1373: 1317: 1316: 1287: 1286: 1265:Culture Orbital 1252: 1251: 1174: 1173: 1167:metamathematics 1124: 1123: 1001: 1000: 942: 941: 890:Some inhabited 884: 847: 834: 816:Player of Games 807: 766: 727: 672: 667: 629: 571: 533: 511: 506: 475: 443: 361: 350: 349: 348: 343: 332: 326: 323: 280: 278: 272: 268:primary sources 256: 241: 230: 224: 221: 213:help rewrite it 210: 197: 193: 182: 176: 173: 167:or excerpts to 158: 146: 142: 131: 120: 114: 111: 97:Please help by 96: 87: 83: 46: 42: 35: 28: 23: 22: 15: 12: 11: 5: 4431: 4421: 4420: 4415: 4410: 4405: 4400: 4395: 4390: 4385: 4380: 4375: 4370: 4365: 4360: 4355: 4338: 4337: 4335: 4334: 4327: 4324:Surface Detail 4320: 4313: 4306: 4299: 4292: 4291: 4290: 4276: 4273:Use of Weapons 4269: 4262: 4254: 4252: 4246: 4245: 4242:Culture series 4234: 4233: 4226: 4219: 4211: 4204: 4203: 4189: 4175: 4173: 4170: 4169: 4168: 4155: 4142: 4118: 4115: 4114: 4113: 4091: 4067: 4043: 4018: 4015: 4014: 4013: 4000: 3987: 3958: 3944: 3931: 3917: 3904: 3886:(1): 135–147, 3871: 3858: 3841: 3821: 3803:(3): 625–626, 3792: 3767:(4): 259–273, 3754: 3751: 3750: 3749: 3729: 3724:978-0356501505 3723: 3710: 3704: 3696:Surface Detail 3691: 3685: 3672: 3666: 3653: 3647: 3634: 3628: 3615: 3604:cite newsgroup 3576: 3569: 3556: 3550: 3537: 3531: 3516: 3513: 3511: 3508: 3506: 3505: 3493: 3481: 3469: 3454: 3442: 3430: 3418: 3406: 3389: 3366: 3354: 3337: 3335:, p. 177. 3325: 3313: 3301: 3284: 3282:, p. 136. 3272: 3260: 3248: 3246:, p. 363. 3236: 3234:, p. 224. 3224: 3222:, p. 396. 3212: 3208:Blackmore 2010 3200: 3185: 3170: 3153: 3141: 3124: 3095: 3078: 3066: 3051: 3036: 3014: 3012: 3009: 3006: 3005: 2992: 2978: 2964: 2943: 2934: 2925: 2916: 2907: 2898: 2888: 2871: 2857: 2856: 2854: 2851: 2799:When asked in 2796: 2793: 2788: 2787: 2783: 2780: 2779: 2777:978-0356501505 2774: 2765: 2762: 2754: 2753: 2750: 2747: 2746: 2741: 2731: 2728: 2725:Surface Detail 2720: 2719: 2715: 2712: 2711: 2706: 2697: 2694: 2686: 2685: 2681: 2678: 2677: 2672: 2663: 2660: 2652: 2651: 2647: 2644: 2643: 2638: 2635: 2632: 2624: 2623: 2615: 2612: 2611: 2606: 2583: 2580: 2572: 2571: 2548: 2545: 2544: 2539: 2536: 2533: 2525: 2524: 2520: 2517: 2516: 2511: 2508: 2505: 2502:Use of Weapons 2497: 2496: 2492: 2489: 2488: 2483: 2482:to 2087/88 CE 2474: 2471: 2463: 2462: 2459: 2456: 2455: 2450: 2444: 2441: 2433: 2432: 2429: 2426: 2423: 2414: 2406: 2404: 2401: 2368:Use of Weapons 2343: 2340: 2327:Use of Weapons 2325:The events of 2318: 2315: 2305: 2302: 2259: 2258: 2241: 2240: 2195: 2193: 2186: 2179: 2178: 2133: 2131: 2124: 2119: 2093: 2092: 2090: 2083: 2077: 2074: 2034:secret service 2029: 2026: 2022:Surface Detail 1996: 1995:Foreign policy 1993: 1951: 1946: 1938: 1935: 1927:Use of Weapons 1918: 1915: 1902: 1899: 1878: 1875: 1855: 1852: 1835: 1832: 1811: 1808: 1774: 1771: 1762: 1759: 1744:nanotechnology 1739: 1738:Nanotechnology 1736: 1682: 1679: 1655: 1652: 1626: 1623: 1594: 1591: 1573: 1570: 1566:Use of Weapons 1543: 1540: 1538: 1535: 1502:extreme sports 1484: 1481: 1473: 1472: 1440: 1434: 1424: 1418: 1372: 1369: 1368: 1367: 1361: 1355: 1349: 1343: 1337: 1322: 1321: 1313: 1312: 1309: 1306: 1303: 1300: 1297: 1292: 1291: 1288:Atypical Minds 1283: 1282: 1278: 1275: 1272: 1257: 1256: 1253:Non-Ship Minds 1179: 1178: 1142:aggressiveness 1129: 1128: 1006: 1005: 947: 946: 914:'real space'. 883: 880: 846: 843: 833: 830: 825:Surface Detail 820:Use of Weapons 806: 803: 765: 762: 741:Use of Weapons 729:Techniques in 726: 723: 671: 668: 666: 663: 628: 625: 570: 567: 546:binary numbers 532: 529: 510: 507: 505: 502: 474: 471: 442: 439: 398:humanoid alien 363: 362: 345: 344: 259: 257: 250: 243: 242: 201:This article 200: 198: 191: 184: 183: 149: 147: 140: 133: 132: 90: 88: 81: 76: 50: 49: 47: 40: 26: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 4430: 4419: 4416: 4414: 4411: 4409: 4406: 4404: 4401: 4399: 4396: 4394: 4391: 4389: 4386: 4384: 4381: 4379: 4376: 4374: 4371: 4369: 4366: 4364: 4361: 4359: 4356: 4354: 4351: 4350: 4348: 4333: 4332: 4328: 4326: 4325: 4321: 4319: 4318: 4314: 4312: 4311: 4307: 4305: 4304: 4300: 4298: 4297: 4293: 4288: 4284: 4283: 4282: 4281: 4277: 4275: 4274: 4270: 4268: 4267: 4263: 4261: 4260: 4256: 4255: 4253: 4251: 4247: 4243: 4239: 4238:Iain M. Banks 4232: 4227: 4225: 4220: 4218: 4213: 4212: 4209: 4200: 4196: 4192: 4186: 4183:. McFarland. 4182: 4177: 4176: 4165: 4161: 4156: 4152: 4151:The Economist 4148: 4143: 4132: 4128: 4127: 4121: 4120: 4103: 4102: 4097: 4092: 4081: 4077: 4075: 4068: 4057: 4053: 4051: 4044: 4032: 4028: 4027: 4021: 4020: 4011: 4007: 4003: 3997: 3993: 3988: 3984: 3980: 3976: 3972: 3968: 3964: 3959: 3955: 3951: 3947: 3941: 3937: 3932: 3928: 3924: 3920: 3914: 3910: 3905: 3901: 3897: 3893: 3889: 3885: 3881: 3877: 3872: 3861: 3855: 3851: 3847: 3842: 3831: 3827: 3822: 3818: 3814: 3810: 3806: 3802: 3798: 3793: 3790: 3786: 3782: 3778: 3774: 3770: 3766: 3762: 3757: 3756: 3739: 3735: 3730: 3726: 3720: 3716: 3711: 3707: 3701: 3697: 3692: 3688: 3682: 3678: 3673: 3669: 3667:1-85723-969-5 3663: 3659: 3654: 3650: 3648:1-85723-763-3 3644: 3640: 3635: 3631: 3629:1-85723-457-X 3625: 3621: 3616: 3611: 3605: 3590: 3586: 3582: 3577: 3572: 3570:0-356-19669-0 3566: 3562: 3557: 3553: 3551:1-85723-146-5 3547: 3543: 3538: 3534: 3532:1-85723-138-4 3528: 3524: 3519: 3518: 3502: 3497: 3490: 3485: 3478: 3473: 3466: 3461: 3459: 3451: 3450:Langford 1998 3446: 3439: 3434: 3427: 3422: 3415: 3410: 3403: 3398: 3396: 3394: 3386: 3381: 3379: 3377: 3375: 3373: 3371: 3363: 3358: 3351: 3346: 3344: 3342: 3334: 3329: 3322: 3317: 3310: 3305: 3298: 3293: 3291: 3289: 3281: 3276: 3269: 3264: 3257: 3252: 3245: 3240: 3233: 3228: 3221: 3216: 3209: 3204: 3197: 3192: 3190: 3182: 3177: 3175: 3167: 3166:Westfahl 2006 3162: 3160: 3158: 3150: 3145: 3138: 3133: 3131: 3129: 3120: 3116: 3112: 3108: 3107: 3099: 3092: 3087: 3085: 3083: 3075: 3070: 3063: 3058: 3056: 3048: 3043: 3041: 3033: 3028: 3026: 3024: 3022: 3020: 3015: 3002: 2996: 2989: 2982: 2974: 2968: 2961: 2957: 2953: 2947: 2938: 2929: 2920: 2911: 2902: 2892: 2885: 2881: 2875: 2868: 2862: 2858: 2849: 2845: 2841: 2838: 2837: 2831: 2829: 2828: 2821: 2815: 2809: 2804: 2802: 2781: 2778: 2775: 2766: 2763: 2761: 2760: 2755: 2748: 2745: 2744:1-84149-893-9 2742: 2732: 2729: 2727: 2726: 2721: 2713: 2710: 2709:1-84149-417-8 2707: 2698: 2695: 2693: 2692: 2687: 2679: 2676: 2675:1-85723-969-5 2673: 2664: 2661: 2659: 2658: 2653: 2645: 2642: 2641:1-85723-763-3 2639: 2636: 2633: 2631: 2630: 2625: 2619: 2613: 2610: 2609:1-85723-394-8 2607: 2584: 2581: 2579: 2578: 2573: 2568: 2567:control group 2564: 2560: 2556: 2552: 2546: 2543: 2542:0-356-19669-0 2540: 2537: 2534: 2532: 2531: 2526: 2518: 2515: 2514:1-85723-135-X 2512: 2509: 2506: 2504: 2503: 2498: 2490: 2487: 2486:1-85723-146-5 2484: 2475: 2472: 2470: 2469: 2464: 2457: 2454: 2453:1-85723-138-4 2451: 2449: 2445: 2442: 2440: 2439: 2434: 2430: 2427: 2424: 2421: 2420: 2417: 2411: 2400: 2398: 2392: 2390: 2386: 2381: 2377: 2373: 2369: 2363: 2359: 2355: 2353: 2349: 2342:Issues raised 2339: 2337: 2332: 2328: 2323: 2314: 2310: 2301: 2299: 2298:transhumanism 2295: 2291: 2287: 2283: 2279: 2275: 2271: 2267: 2255: 2252: 2237: 2234: 2226: 2223:November 2019 2216: 2212: 2208: 2202: 2201: 2196:This section 2194: 2185: 2184: 2175: 2172: 2164: 2161:November 2019 2154: 2150: 2144: 2143: 2137: 2132: 2123: 2122: 2117: 2115: 2108: 2107: 2102: 2101: 2096: 2091: 2082: 2081: 2073: 2071: 2067: 2063: 2057: 2055: 2049: 2047: 2043: 2039: 2035: 2025: 2023: 2018: 2016: 2011: 2009: 2008: 2001: 1992: 1989: 1985: 1981: 1977: 1972: 1968: 1964: 1960: 1957: 1945: 1943: 1942:Dyson spheres 1934: 1932: 1928: 1923: 1914: 1912: 1908: 1898: 1896: 1892: 1888: 1883: 1874: 1872: 1868: 1864: 1860: 1851: 1849: 1844: 1842: 1831: 1829: 1825: 1821: 1817: 1816:megastructure 1807: 1805: 1801: 1800: 1795: 1790: 1786: 1784: 1780: 1770: 1767: 1758: 1754: 1752: 1747: 1745: 1735: 1733: 1727: 1723: 1721: 1716: 1712: 1711:exotic matter 1707: 1704: 1700: 1696: 1691: 1689: 1678: 1676: 1672: 1667: 1661: 1651: 1649: 1643: 1640: 1636: 1635:teleportation 1632: 1622: 1620: 1616: 1612: 1607: 1604: 1600: 1599:post-scarcity 1590: 1586: 1584: 1578: 1569: 1567: 1562: 1560: 1556: 1551: 1549: 1534: 1532: 1528: 1522: 1520: 1515: 1511: 1507: 1503: 1497: 1495: 1491: 1480: 1478: 1470: 1463: 1459: 1455: 1451: 1444: 1443:da' Marenhide 1441: 1438: 1435: 1432: 1428: 1425: 1422: 1419: 1416: 1412: 1411: 1407: 1402: 1398: 1395:, etc.). The 1394: 1390: 1386: 1382: 1381:Rasd-Coduresa 1379: 1378: 1377: 1365: 1362: 1359: 1356: 1353: 1350: 1347: 1344: 1341: 1338: 1335: 1332: 1331: 1330: 1328: 1327:personal life 1315: 1314: 1310: 1307: 1304: 1301: 1298: 1294: 1293: 1285: 1284: 1279: 1276: 1273: 1270: 1266: 1262: 1261: 1260: 1250: 1249: 1248: 1244: 1240: 1190: 1186: 1184: 1172: 1171: 1170: 1168: 1164: 1159: 1156: 1152: 1149: 1145: 1143: 1139: 1135: 1122: 1121: 1120: 1118: 1113: 1110: 1105: 1103: 1098: 1094: 1089: 1087: 1083: 1082: 1077: 1076: 1071: 1062: 1051: 1050: 1043: 1041: 1037: 1036: 1030: 1028: 1022: 1020: 1014: 1013: 999: 998: 997: 995: 994: 989: 988: 982: 978: 970: 967: 961: 959: 955: 952: 940: 939: 938: 934: 931: 926: 924: 921:amenities by 920: 919:post-scarcity 915: 909: 902: 897: 893: 888: 879: 877: 871: 869: 863: 861: 855: 851: 842: 840: 829: 827: 826: 821: 817: 813: 802: 798: 795: 793: 786: 781: 779: 775: 771: 761: 759: 755: 754: 749: 748: 743: 742: 735: 732: 722: 718: 716: 715: 710: 705: 701: 697: 695: 694: 689: 685: 681: 677: 662: 660: 659: 654: 650: 649: 644: 640: 636: 635: 624: 620: 618: 614: 613: 608: 603: 601: 595: 593: 588: 584: 580: 576: 566: 562: 560: 556: 555: 549: 547: 542: 538: 528: 525: 524:post-scarcity 520: 516: 501: 499: 498: 493: 492: 485: 483: 482: 470: 466: 464: 460: 456: 452: 448: 447:post-scarcity 438: 435: 430: 425: 423: 419: 413: 411: 407: 403: 399: 394: 392: 390: 385: 384:short fiction 381: 377: 373: 372:post-scarcity 369: 359: 356: 341: 338: 330: 319: 316: 312: 309: 305: 302: 298: 295: 291: 288: – 287: 286:"The Culture" 283: 282:Find sources: 276: 270: 269: 265: 260:This article 258: 254: 249: 248: 239: 236: 228: 218: 214: 208: 206: 199: 190: 189: 180: 170: 166: 162: 156: 155: 150:This article 148: 139: 138: 129: 126: 118: 108: 104: 100: 94: 91:This article 89: 80: 79: 74: 72: 65: 64: 59: 58: 53: 48: 39: 38: 33: 19: 4329: 4322: 4315: 4308: 4301: 4294: 4278: 4271: 4264: 4257: 4249: 4180: 4164:Ars Technica 4163: 4150: 4135:, retrieved 4131:the original 4125: 4117:News Sources 4105:, retrieved 4099: 4083:, retrieved 4079: 4073: 4059:, retrieved 4055: 4049: 4035:, retrieved 4031:the original 4025: 3991: 3969:(1): 23–32, 3966: 3962: 3935: 3908: 3883: 3879: 3875: 3863:, retrieved 3849: 3833:, retrieved 3829: 3800: 3796: 3764: 3760: 3741:, retrieved 3737: 3714: 3695: 3676: 3657: 3638: 3619: 3592:. Retrieved 3560: 3541: 3522: 3510:Bibliography 3496: 3484: 3477:Johnson 2008 3472: 3445: 3433: 3421: 3409: 3402:Horwich 2002 3362:Collier 2013 3357: 3328: 3316: 3304: 3275: 3263: 3251: 3239: 3227: 3215: 3203: 3196:Rumpala 2012 3149:Lippens 2002 3144: 3113:(3): 65–72. 3110: 3104: 3098: 3069: 3000: 2995: 2988:Parsons 2010 2981: 2972: 2967: 2959: 2955: 2954:incident in 2951: 2946: 2937: 2928: 2919: 2910: 2901: 2891: 2879: 2874: 2861: 2847: 2843: 2834: 2833: 2825: 2823: 2818: 2812: 2806: 2800: 2798: 2757: 2723: 2689: 2655: 2627: 2575: 2528: 2500: 2466: 2436: 2415: 2396: 2393: 2375: 2371: 2367: 2364: 2360: 2356: 2345: 2336:intelligence 2330: 2326: 2324: 2320: 2311: 2307: 2262: 2247: 2229: 2220: 2197: 2167: 2158: 2139: 2111: 2104: 2098: 2097:Please help 2094: 2069: 2065: 2061: 2058: 2053: 2050: 2045: 2041: 2031: 2021: 2019: 2014: 2012: 2005: 2002: 1998: 1983: 1973: 1969: 1965: 1961: 1953: 1940: 1930: 1926: 1924: 1920: 1910: 1906: 1904: 1894: 1890: 1886: 1884: 1880: 1866: 1862: 1857: 1847: 1845: 1837: 1828:Dyson sphere 1813: 1797: 1791: 1787: 1776: 1768: 1764: 1761:Living space 1755: 1750: 1748: 1741: 1731: 1728: 1724: 1714: 1708: 1703:technobabble 1692: 1684: 1674: 1663: 1647: 1644: 1638: 1630: 1628: 1614: 1610: 1608: 1596: 1587: 1582: 1579: 1575: 1565: 1563: 1558: 1552: 1548:anti-gravity 1545: 1530: 1526: 1523: 1513: 1505: 1498: 1486: 1474: 1465: 1461: 1457: 1453: 1446: 1442: 1436: 1430: 1426: 1420: 1414: 1404: 1400: 1396: 1393:Dyson sphere 1380: 1374: 1363: 1357: 1351: 1345: 1339: 1333: 1323: 1318:Minds' names 1258: 1245: 1241: 1187: 1182: 1180: 1162: 1160: 1157: 1153: 1150: 1146: 1138:extroversion 1134:introversion 1130: 1114: 1108: 1107:The Mind in 1106: 1092: 1090: 1079: 1073: 1069: 1063: 1047: 1044: 1033: 1031: 1023: 1010: 1007: 991: 985: 983: 979: 971: 965: 962: 948: 935: 927: 916: 900: 889: 885: 875: 872: 867: 864: 859: 856: 852: 848: 838: 835: 823: 819: 815: 811: 808: 799: 796: 791: 788: 783: 777: 773: 767: 757: 751: 745: 739: 736: 728: 719: 712: 706: 702: 698: 691: 673: 656: 646: 632: 630: 621: 616: 610: 604: 599: 596: 591: 578: 575:Social norms 572: 563: 552: 550: 534: 512: 495: 489: 486: 479: 476: 467: 444: 426: 414: 410:protagonists 395: 388: 367: 366: 351: 333: 324: 314: 307: 300: 293: 281: 261: 231: 222: 202: 174: 159:Please help 151: 121: 112: 99:spinning off 92: 68: 61: 55: 54:Please help 51: 4413:Space opera 4353:The Culture 4250:The Culture 4037:17 February 3414:Horton 1997 3256:Newitz 2017 3181:Newitz 2019 3076:, ch. 3.IV. 2771: 2375 2738: 2967 2703: 1887 2669: 2167 2637:Unspecified 2596: 1827 2589: 1867 2480: 2083 2385:utilitarian 2352:egalitarian 2153:introducing 1901:Shellworlds 1841:terraformed 1822:. Unlike a 1820:Bishop ring 1794:Larry Niven 1757:buildings. 1490:resurrected 1415:Sun-Earther 1391:, orbital, 1354:– a warship 1348:– a warship 805:Personality 770:eugenically 688:short scale 607:Big Brother 581:, possible 451:egalitarian 380:space opera 368:The Culture 205:in-universe 4347:Categories 4303:Inversions 4199:1023251133 4080:Ansible.uk 4074:Inversions 3954:1120943463 3927:1059268855 3900:5542757341 3865:9 December 3639:Inversions 3501:Banks 2012 3489:Banks 2010 3465:Banks 2008 3438:Banks 1998 3426:Banks 1991 3350:Brown 2001 3333:Banks 2010 3321:Banks 2010 3309:Banks 2010 3297:Banks 1987 3280:Banks 2000 3268:Cross 2017 3244:Banks 2000 3232:Banks 2000 3220:Banks 1996 3137:Banks 1988 3091:Banks 2000 3074:Banks 1996 3047:Banks 1994 3032:Banks 1996 3011:References 2884:Banks 1988 2867:Banks 1987 2705:or 2167 CE 2629:Inversions 2603: 633 2380:theocratic 2338:agencies. 2207:improve it 2136:references 2100:improve it 2062:Descendant 1891:Phage Rock 1773:Airspheres 1720:lightspeed 1695:Hyperspace 1688:ecosystems 1658:See also: 1611:"gridfire" 1603:antimatter 1510:euthanasia 1175:Ship Minds 1125:Psychology 1102:hyperspace 1086:antimatter 1040:yottabytes 1002:Technology 832:Artificial 764:Phenotypes 725:Physiology 709:hedonistic 670:Biological 557:regarding 406:spacesuits 376:Iain Banks 297:newspapers 264:references 169:Wikisource 103:relocating 57:improve it 4296:Excession 4052:(review)" 4010:751416745 3983:0160-791X 3892:1045-991X 3817:143328512 3789:144415805 3781:0270-4676 3717:, Orbit, 3679:, Orbit, 3660:, Orbit, 3641:, Orbit, 3622:, Orbit, 3620:Excession 3585:Newsgroup 3563:. 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