edu cultural and learning

8/13/2019 Edu Cultural and Learning

1/27

Overview

The Culture is characterized by being a post-scarcitysociety (meaning that

its advanced technologies provide practically limitless material wealth and

comforts for everyone for free, having all but abolished the concept of

possessions), by having overcome almost all physical constraints on life

(including disease and death) and by being an almost totally egalitarian,

stable society without the use of any form of force or compulsion, except

where necessary to protect others

!inds, powerful artificial intelligences, have an important role to play in this

society They administer this affluence for the benefit of all "s one

commentator has said,

#n vesting all power in his individualistic, sometime eccentric, but always

benign, "# !inds, $an%s %new what he was doing& this is the only way a

liberal anarchy could be achieved, by ta%ing what is best in humans and

placing it beyond corruption, which means out of human control The

danger involved in this imaginative step, though, is clear& one of the

problems with the Culture novels as novels is that the central characters,

the !inds, are too powerful and, to put it bluntly, too good'

The novels of the Culture cycle, therefore, mostly deal with people at the

fringes of the Culture* diplomats, spies, or mercenaries& those who interact

with other civilizations, and who do the Culture+s dirty wor% in moving those

societies closer to the Culture ideal, sometimes by force

'editictional history

#n this fictional universe, the Culture exists concurrently with human societyon arth The time frame for the published Culture stories is from roughly

". /011 to ". 231, with arth being contactedaround ". /11, though

the Culture had covertly visited the planet in the /231s in The State of the

Art

The Culture itself is described as having been created when several

humanoid species and machine sentiences reached a certain social level,

and too% not only their physical, but also their civilizational evolution into
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-scarcityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egalitarianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_(The_Culture)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-Brown-2001-SCLIB-1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_(The_Culture)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_State_of_the_Arthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_State_of_the_Arthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egalitarianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_(The_Culture)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-Brown-2001-SCLIB-1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_(The_Culture)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_State_of_the_Arthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_State_of_the_Arthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-scarcity


2/27


3/27

presence of these concepts in other civilizations signify the brutality and

hierarchy associated with forms of empire that the Culture strives to avoid

!arain itself is also open to encryption and dialect-specific implementations

for different parts of the Culture !/ is basic


4/27

have the occasional 7crime of passion7 (as described by an"zadian) and

the punishment was to be 7slap-droned7, or to have a drone assigned to

follow the offender and 7ma%e sure 'they don+t do it again7

9hile the enforcement in theory could lead to a $ig $rother-stylesurveillance society, in practice social convention among the !inds

prohibits them from watching, or interfering in, citizens+ lives unless

re5uested, or unless they perceive severe ris% 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 Look to

Windwardrelies on a ?ub !ind not reading an agent+s mind (with certain

precautions in case this rule gets violated) !inds that do so anyway are

considered deviant and shunned by other !inds (see AC@ Grey Area) "t

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 boo%s

This gives some measure of privacy and protection& though the very nature

of Culture society would, strictly spea%ing, ma%e %eeping secrets irrelevant*

most of them would be considered neither shameful nor criminal #t does

allow the !inds in particular to scheme amongst themselves in a very

efficient manner, and occasionally withhold information

'editBiological citizens

#t has been argued within the novels by opponents of the Culture that the

role of humans in the Culture is nothing more than that of pets, or parasites

on Culture !inds, and that they can have nothing genuinely useful to

contribute to a society where science is close to omniscient about the

physical universe, where every ailment has been cured, and where every

thought can be read !any of the Culture novels in fact contain characters

(from within or without the Culture) wondering how far-reaching the !inds+

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 !inds in much the same ways Contactand 4pecial

Circumstancesinfluence other societies "lso, except for some mentions

about a vote over the #diran-Culture 9ar, and the existence of a very smallnumber of +;eferrers+ (humans of especially acute reasoning), few
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_societies_of_the_Culture_setting#Azadianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Brother_(1984)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Look_to_Windwardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Look_to_Windwardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GCU_Grey_Areahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GCU_Grey_Areahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GCU_Grey_Areahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_(The_Culture)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Circumstanceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Circumstanceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiran-Culture_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_societies_of_the_Culture_setting#Azadianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Brother_(1984)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Look_to_Windwardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Look_to_Windwardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GCU_Grey_Areahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_(The_Culture)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Circumstanceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Circumstanceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiran-Culture_War


5/27

biological entities are ever described as being involved in any high-level

decisions

On the other hand, the Culture can be seen as

fundamentally hedonistic(one of the main ob6ectives for any being,including !inds, is to have fun rather than to be +useful+) "lso, !inds are

constructed, by convention, to care for and value human beings 9hile a

Aeneral Contact @nit (AC@) 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

#n Consider Phlebasit is noted that !inds still find humans fascinating,

especially their odd ability to sometimes achieve similarly advanced

reasoning as their much more complex machine brains

To a large degree, the freedoms en6oyed by humans in the Culture are only

available because !inds choose to provide them


6/27

though the ma6ority of the biological Culture is still pan-human Eittle

uniformity exists 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 artificialsentience is considered to be what is %nown as an @nusual Eife Choice)

"ll members are also free to 6oin, leave, and re6oin, or indeed declare

themselves to be, say, =1F Culture

'editPhysiology

Techni5ues in geneticshave 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 7human-basic7 and the vast ma6ority opt for significantenhancements& severed limbs grow bac%, sexual physiology can be

voluntarily changed from male to female and bac% (though the process

itself ta%es time), sexual stimulation and endurance are strongly heightened

in both sexes (something that is often sub6ect of envious debate among

other species), pain can be switched off, toxins can be bypassed away

from the digestive system, automatic functions such as breathing or heart

rate can be switched to conscious control, and bones and muscles adapt

5uic%ly 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 4pecial Circumstances personnel (for

example, weapons systems embedded in various parts of the body)

!ost 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*+4nap+ is described in Use of Weaonsand The Player of Gamesas 7The

Culture+s favourite brea%fast drug7 74harp $lue7 is described as a utility

drug, as opposed to a sensory enhancer or a sexual stimulant, that helps in

problem solving 7Guic%en7, mentioned in Excession, speeds up the user+s

neural processes so that time seems to slow down, allowing them to thin%

and have mental conversation (for example with artificial intelligences) in

far less time than it appears to ta%e to the outside observer 74per%7, as

described in Matter, is a mood- and energy-enhancing drug, while other
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetics


7/27

such self-produced drugs include 7Calm7, 7Aain7, 7Charge7, 7;ecall7,

7.iffuse7, 74omnabsolute7, 74oftnow7, 7ocal7, 7dge7, 7.rill7, 7Aung7, and

7Crystal ugue 4tate7 The glanded substances have no permanent side-

effects and are non-habit-forming'editPhenotypes

See also! List of societies of the C"lt"re settin#

or all their genetic improvements, the Culture is by no

means eugenicallyuniform ?uman members in the Culture setting vary in

size, colour and shape as in reality, and with possibly even further natural

differences* in the novella The State of the Art, it is mentioned that a

character 7loo%s li%e a Heti7, and that there is variance among the Culturein minor details such as the number of toes or of 6oints on each finger #t is

mentioned in Excessionthat*

7the tenor of the time had generally turned against outlandishness and

people had mostly returned to loo%ing more li%e people over the last

millennium7, previously 7as the fashions of the intervening times had

ordained 8 people had resembled birds, fish, dirigible balloons, sna%es,

small clouds of cohesive smo%e and animated bushes74ome Culture citizens opt to leave the constraints of a human or even

humanoid body altogether, opting to ta%e on the appearance of one of the

myriad of other galactic sentients (perhaps in order to live with them) or

even non-sentient ob6ects as commented upon inMatter(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 !inds themselves, though this is considered rude and

possibly even insulting by most humans and "#s ali%e

9hile the Culture is generally pan-humanoid (and tends to call itself

7human7), various other species and individuals of other species have

become part of the Culture

"s 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

'editPersonality
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_societies_of_the_Culture_settinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matter_(novel)http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=12http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_societies_of_the_Culture_settinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matter_(novel)http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=12


8/27

"lmost all Culture citizens are very sociable, of great intellectual capability

and learning, and possess very well-balanced psyches Their biological

ma%e-up and their growing up in an enlightened society ma%e neuroses

and lesser emotions li%e greed or (strong) 6ealousy practically un%nown,and produce persons that, in any lesser society, appear very self-

composed and charismatic Character traits li%e strong shyness, while very

rare, are not fully un%nown, as shown in Excession "s described there and

in Player of Games, a Culture citizen who becomes dysfunctional enough

to pose a serious nuisance or threat to others would be offered (voluntary)

psychological ad6ustment therapy and might potentially find himself under

constant (non-voluntary) oversight by representatives of the local !ind #n

extreme cases, as described in Use of Weaonsand S"rface $etail,

dangerous individuals have been %nown to be assigned a 7slap-drone7, a

robotic follower who ensures that the person in 5uestion doesn+t continue to

endanger the safety of others

'editArtificial

"s well as humans and other biological species, sentient artificial

intelligencesare also members of the Culture These can be broadly

categorised into drones and !inds "lso, by custom, as described

in Excession, any artifact (be it a tool or vessel) above a certain capability

level has to be given sentience

'editDrones

.rones 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 7/1 value7

drone would be considered the mental e5ual of a biological citizen,

whereas 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

ta%e care of much of the menial wor% in the Culture) The sentience of

advanced drones has various levels of redundancy, from systems similar to

that of !inds (though much reduced in capability) down to electronic, to

mechanical and finally biochemical bac%-up brains
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excessionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_Weaponshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_Detailhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=13http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_(The_Culture)http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excessionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_Weaponshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_Detailhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=13http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_(The_Culture)http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=14


9/27

"lthough 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 5uir%s Ei%e biological citizens, Culture

drones generally have lengthy names They also have a form of sexualintercourse for pleasure, called being 7in thrall7, though this is an intellect-

only interfacing with another sympathetic drone

9hile civilian drones do generally match humans in intelligence, drones

built especially as Contact or 4pecial Circumstances agents are often

several times more intelligent, and imbued with extremely powerful senses,

powers and armaments (usually forcefield and effector-based, though

occasionally more destructive weaponry such as lasers or, exceptionally,

7%nife-missiles7 are referred to) all powered by antimatter reactors .espite

being purpose built, these drones are still allowed individual personalities

and given a choice in lifestyle #ndeed, some are eventually deemed

psychologically unsuitable as agents (for example as !awhrin-4%el notes

about itself inThe Player of Games) and must choose (or choose to

choose) either mental reprofiling or demilitarisation and discharge from

4pecial Circumstances

Dhysically, drones are floating units of various sizes and shapes, usually

with no visible moving parts .rones get around the limitations of this

inanimation with the ability to pro6ect 7fields7* both those capable of physical

force, which allow them to manipulate ob6ects, as well as visible, coloured

fields called 7auras7, which are used to enable the drone to express

emotion There is a complex code of drone body language based on aura

colours and patterns (which is fully understood by biological Culture

citizens as well) The drone, Iase, inConsider Phlebas, is described asbeing constructed before the use of 7auras7, and refuses to be retrofitted

with them, preferring to remain inscrutable

#n 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 personal preference 4ome drones are also designed as


10/27

utility e5uipment with its own sentience, such as the gelfield protective suit

described in Excession

'editMinds

Main article! Mind %The C"lt"re&

$y contrast to drones, !inds 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 @nsurprisingly, given their duties, !inds

are tremendously powerful* capable of running all of the functions of a ship

or habitat, while holding potentially millions of simultaneous conversations

with the citizens that live aboard them To allow them to perform at such ahigh degree, they exist partially in hyperspace to get around hindrances to

computing power such as the speed of light

.uring the time of Consider Phlebas, !inds were estimated to number in

the several hundreds of thousands

4hip-based Culture !inds choose the names of the craft they inhabit, and

their choices are often whimsical and humorous 4hips are identified by a

three-letter prefix denoting class (such as A4B or AC@), followed by their

personal name, such as*

Anticiation 'f A (ew Lo)er*s Arri)al+ The

,"st Testin#

Sense Amid Madness+ Wit Amidst -olly

Dresumably to avoid the cumbersome repetition of such long names, the

inhabitants of ships and habitats tend to refer to the overseeing local !ind

simply as the 74hip7 or the 7?ub7, for example

Culture military craft are often designed to be ugly and graceless, lac%ing

the Culture+s usual aesthetic style, and it has been theorised that this is

because Culture citizens wish to distance themselves from the military

aspects of their society Their ship classes, reflecting the Culture+s profound

distaste of war and resultant refusal to disguise their weapons with

euphemisms, are always unpleasant (such as the Aangster, Torturer,
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=15http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_(The_Culture)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consider_Phlebashttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=15http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_(The_Culture)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consider_Phlebas


11/27

Dsychopath, Thug and "bominator classes) Their self-given names are

often tinged with menace (but still tend to be whimsical), such as*

All Thro"#h With This (iceness And (e#otiation St"ff

Attit"de Ad."ster

/illin# Time

-rank Exchan#e 'f 0iews

-allin# '"tside The (ormal Moral Constraints

See also! List of sacecraft in the C"lt"re series

4ince the !ind concerned chooses its own name this may sometimes even

indicate a degree of self-hatred over its purpose for existence 9arship

!inds are somewhat out of the normal Culture+s behaviour range, designed

to be more aggressive and less ambivalent about violence than the usual

Culture citizen 4ome such !inds choose to 7sleep7 in between periods of

conflict, due to their boredom and uneasiness with typical existence in the

Culture

!inds generally view their crew:inhabitants as 7interesting companions7

and interact with them through remotely controlled devices, often drones or

humanoid 7avatars7 xamples of more diverse interactive systems are

animals such as small fish suspended in their own anti-gravity sphere of

water

"s a sidenote, the fact that artificial intelligences are accepted as citizens of

the Culture was a ma6or factor in the #diran-Culture 9ar, which is explored

in Consider Phlebas This citizenship of "#s (which the Culture promotes in

other societies it encounters) has other more general conse5uences or

instance, despite a high degree of automation within Culture technology,

menial tas%s are often underta%en by non-sentient technology, to avoid the

exploitation of sentient lifeforms (though !inds often wor% at administrative

tas%s using bare fractions of their enormous mental capabilities)

'editNames
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spacecraft_in_the_Culture_serieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiran-Culture_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=16http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spacecraft_in_the_Culture_serieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiran-Culture_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=16


12/27

4ome humanoid or drone Culture citizens have long names, often with

seven or more words 4ome 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 thecitizen themselves), or ma%e other similarly personal statements "n

example would be .iziet 4ma, whose full name is ;asd-Coduresa .iziet

mbless 4ma da+ !arenhide*

1asd2Cod"resais the planetary systemof her birth, and the specific

ob6ect (planet, orbital, .yson sphere, etc) The 2sasuffix is roughly

e5uivalent to 2erin nglish $y this convention, arth humans would all

be named Sol2Terrasa(or S"n2Earther) $i3ietis her given name This is chosen by a parent, usually the

mother

Emblessis her chosen name !ost Culture citizens choose this when

they reach adulthood (according to The Player of Gamesthis is %nown

as 7completing one+s name7) "s with all conventions in the Culture, it

may be bro%en or ignored* some change their chosen name during their

lives, some never ta%e one

Smais her surname, usually ta%en from one+s mother

da* Marenhideis the +house+:estate she was raised within,

the da*or dambeing similar to )onin Aerman (The usual formation

isdam& da*is used in 4ma+s name because the house name begins with

an !, eliding an aw%ward phoneme repetition)

#ain $an%s has given his own Culture name as 74un-arther #ain l-$on%o

$an%s of


13/27

consciousness is not continued, and the original individual is not truly

reborn, 6ust replaced 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 6ust within virtual reality 4ome citizenschoose to go into 7storage7 (a form of suspended animation) for long

periods of time, out of boredom or curiosity about the future

"ttitudes individual citizens have towards death are very varied (and have

varied throughout the Culture+s history) 9hile many, if not most, citizens

ma%e some use of bac%up technology, many others do not, preferring

instead to ris% death without the possibility of recovery (for example when

engaging in extreme sports) These citizens are sometimes called

7disposables7, and are described inLook to Windward Ta%ing into account

such accidents, voluntary euthanasiafor emotional reasons, or choices

li%e sublimation, the average lifespan of humans is described

in Excessionas being around 0J1 to K11 years, but can be longer 4ome

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 "#, 6oining of a group

mind (which can include biological and non biological consciousnesses), orsubliming (usually in association with a group mind)

Concerning the lifespan of drones and !inds, given the durability of Culture

technology and the aforementioned options of mindstate bac%ups, it is

reasonable to assume that they live as long as they choose ven !inds,

with their utmost complexity, are %nown to be bac%ed up (and reactivated if

they for example die in a ris%y mission, see GS0 Lastin# $ama#e) #t is

noted that even !inds themselves do not necessarily live forever either,often choosing to eventually sublime or even committing suicide(as does

the triple-mind GS0 Lastin# $ama#edue to its choices in the Culture-#diran

war)

'edit4cience and technology

'editAnti-graity and forcefields

The Culture (and other societies) have developed powerful anti-gravity

abilities, closely related to their ability to manipulate forces themselves
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_realityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_sportshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sublimedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSV_Lasting_Damagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSV_Lasting_Damagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=18http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=19http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_realityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_sportshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sublimedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSV_Lasting_Damagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSV_Lasting_Damagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=18http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=19


14/27

#n this ability they can create action-at-a-distance 8 including forces

capable of pushing, pulling, cutting, and even fine manipulation, and

forcefields for protection, visual display or plain destructive ability 4uch

applications still retain restrictions on range and power* while forcefields ofmany cubic %ilometres are possible (and in fact, orbitalsare held together

by forcefields), even in the chronologically later novels, such as Look to

Windward, spaceships are still used for long-distance travel and drones for

many remote activities

9ith the control of a !ind, fields can be manipulated over vast distances

#n Use of Weaons, a Culture warship uses its electromagnetic effectors to

hac% into a computer light years away

'editArtificial intelligence

Main article! Mind %The C"lt"re&

"rtificial intelligences (and to a lesser degree, the non-sentient computers

omnipresent in all material goods), form the bac%bone of the technological

advances of the Culture


15/27

spend most of the time when their +body+ is not in use in a form of remote-

lin%ed existence outside of it, or in a form of "#-level virtual reality

'edit!nergy manipulation

" ma6or feature of its post-scarcitysociety, the Culture is obviously able to

gather, manipulate, transfer and store vast amounts of energy 9hile not

explained in detail in the novels, this involves antimatterand +grid energy+, a

postulated energy field dividing the universe from a mirroring anti-matter

universe, 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 powerful manipulatory

fields and forces

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

with 7Aridfire7 (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

condensed antimatterbombardment One character in Consider

Phlebasrefers to gridfire as 7the weaponry of the end of the universe7

'editMatter displacementThe Culture (at least by the time of The Player of Games) has developed a

form of teleportationcapable of transporting both living and unliving matter

instantaneously via wormholes This technology has not rendered

spacecraft obsolete 8 in Excessiona barely apple-sized drone was

displaced for 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 %illing living beings,

but the chance is described as being so small (/ in >/ million)'K*0>0that 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

.isplacement is an integral part of Culture technology, being widely used

for a range of applications from peaceful to militaristic .isplacing warheads

into or around targets is one of the main forms of attac% in space warfare in

the Culture universe The Player of Gamesmentions that drones can be
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=21http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-scarcityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimatterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimatterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=22http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleportationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-Banks2000LTW-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-Banks2000LTW-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Player_of_Gameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=21http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-scarcityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimatterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimatterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=22http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleportationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-Banks2000LTW-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Player_of_Games


16/27


17/27

redesigns itself to be mostly engine and reaches a speed of 00,111

times lightspeed 9ithin the range of the Culture+s influence in the galaxy,

most ships would still ta%e years of travelling to reach the more remote

spotsOther 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 civilizations, or on Culture hobby craft

9arp engines can be very small, with Culture drones barely larger than fist-

size described as being thus e5uipped There is also at least one

(apparently non-sentient) species (the 7Chuy-?irtsi7 animal), thatpossesses the innate capability of warp travel #n Consider Phlebas, it is

being used as a military transport by the #dirans, but no further details are

given

'editNanotechnology

The Culture has highly advanced nanotechnology, though descriptions of

such technology in the boo%s is limited !any of the described uses are by

or for 4pecial Circumstances, but there are no indications that the use ofnanotechnology is limited in any way (#n a passage in one of the boo%s,

there is a brief reference to the 5uestion of sentience when comparing the

human brain or a 7pico-level substrate7)

One of the primary clandestine uses of nanotechnology is information

gathering The Culture li%es to be in the %now, and as described

in Matter7they tend to %now everything7 "side from its vast networ% of

sympathetic allies and wandering Culture citizens one of the primary waysthat the Culture %eeps trac% of important events is by the use of practically

invisible nanobots capable of recording and transmitting their observations

This techni5ue is described as being especially useful to trac% potentially

dangerous people (such as ex-4pecial Circumstance agents) Bia 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 #nvolved
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightspeedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiranhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=25http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Circumstanceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightspeedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiranhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=25http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Circumstances


18/27

'editEiving space

!uch 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 Aeneral 4ystems Behicles (A4Bs) that can

accommodate hundreds of millions of people "lmost no Culture citizens

are described as living on planets, except when visiting other civilizations

The reason for this is partly because the Culture believes in containing its

own expansion to self-constructed habitats, instead of colonising or

con5uering new planets 9ith the resources of the universe allowing

permanent expansion (at least assuming non-exponential growth), this

frees them from having to compete for living space

The Culture, and other civilizations in $an%s+ universe, are described as

living in these various, often constructed habitats*

'editAirspheres

These are vast, brown dwarf-sized 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 There is only minimal gravity within an

airsphere They are illuminated by moon-sized orbiting planetoids that emit

enormous light beams

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 7dirigible behemothaurs7 and 7gigalithine lenticular entities7,

which may be described as inscrutable, ancient intelligences loo%ing similar

to a cross between gigantic blimps and whales The airspheres slowly

migrate around the galaxy, ta%ing anywhere from J1 to /11 million years tocomplete one circuit #n the novels no one %nows who created the

airspheres or why, but it is presumed that whoever did has long since

sublimed but may maintain some obscure lin% with the behemothaurs and

lenticular entities Auests in the airspheres are not allowed to use any

force-field technology, though no reason has been offered for this

prohibition

The airspheres resemble in some respects the orbit-sized ring ofbreathable atmosphere created by Earry


19/27

spherical not toroidal, re5uire a force field to retain their integrity, and arose

by artificial rather than natural processes

'edit$rbitals

Main article! 'rbital %The C"lt"re&

One of the main types of habitats of the Culture, an orbital is a ring

structure orbiting a star as would a planet @nli%e a ;ingworldor a.yson

4phere, an orbital does not enclose the star (being much too small) Ei%e a

ringworld, the orbital rotates to provide an analog of gravity on the inner

surface " Culture orbital rotates about once every K hours and has

gravity-li%e effect about the same as the gravity of arth, ma%ing the

diameter of the ring about 0,111,111 %m, and ensuring that the inhabitantsexperience night and day Orbitals feature prominently in many Culture

stories

'editPlanets

Though many other civilizations in the Culture boo%s live on planets, the

Culture as it currently exists has little direct connection to planet life "

small number of homeworlds of the founding member species of the

Culture are mentioned in passing, and a few hundred human-habitable

worlds were colonised (some being terraformed) before the Culture chose

to turn towards artificial habitats, preferring to %eep the planets it

encounters wild 4ince then, terraforming has become loo%ed down on by

the Culture as inelegant, ecologically problematic and possibly even

immoral Eess than one percent of the population of the Culture lives on

planets, and many find the very concept a bit bizarre

This respect is not absolute though& in Consider Phlebas, some !indssuggest testing a new technology on a 7spare planet7 (%nowing that it could

be destroyed in an antimatterexplosion if unsuccessful) #t should be

assumed from their normal ethics, that this planet would have been lifeless

to start with #t is also 5uite possible, even probable, that the suggestion

was not made in complete seriousness

'edit%ings

;ingworld-li%e megastructures exist in the Culture universe but are referredto simply as 7;ings7 with a capital 1 These habitats are not described in
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=28http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_(The_Culture)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringworldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_Spherehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_Spherehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimatterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=30http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringworldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=28http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_(The_Culture)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringworldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_Spherehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_Spherehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimatterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=30http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringworld


20/27

detail but one is recorded as having been destroyed (along with 0 4pheres)

in the #diran-Culture war #n Matter, the !orthanveld people possesses

ringworldli%e structures made of innumerable various-sized tubes Those

structures encircle a star 6ust li%e


21/27

4hips in the Culture are intelligent individuals, often of very large size,

controlled by one or more !inds The ship is considered the !ind+s body

4ome ships (eg, A4Bs) are tens or even hundreds of %ilometers in length

and may have millions or even billions of residents who live on them fulltime, and together with Orbitals represent the main form of habitat for the

Culture 4uch large ships may temporarily contain smaller ships with their

own populations, and:or manufacture such ships themselves

#n Use of Weaons, the protagonist a%alwe is allowed to acclimatise

himself to the Culture by wandering for days through the habitable levels of

a ship (the A4B Si3e 4sn*t E)erythin#, which is described as over =1

%ilometers long), eating and sleeping at the many locations which provide

food and accommodation throughout the structure and en6oying the various

forms of contact possible with the friendly and accommodating inhabitants

'edit#pheres

.yson spheresalso exist in the Culture universe but are only mentioned in

passing and are simply called 74pheres7 Three spheres are recorded as

having been destroyed in the #diran-Culture war

#n Matter, the !orthanveld


22/27

constantly in flux (though they tend to be continually expanding during the

novels), peacefully +absorbing+ societies and individuals

9hile the Culture is one of the most advanced and most powerful of all

galactic civilizations, it is but one of the 7high-level #nvolved7 (called7Optimae7 by some less advanced civilizations), the most powerful non-

sublimed civilizations which mentor or control the others

"n #nvolved society is a highly advanced group that has achieved galaxy-

wide involvement with other cultures or societies There are a few dozen

#nvolved societies and hundreds or thousands of well-developed

(interstellar) but insufficiently influential societies or cultures& there are also

well-developed societies %nown as 7galactically mature7 which do not ta%ea dynamic role in the galaxy as a whole #n the novels, the Culture might be

considered the premier #nvolved society, or at least the most dynamic and

energetic, especially given that the Culture itself is a growing multicultural

fusion of #nvolved societies The #nvolved are contrasted with the 4ublimed

(sometimes collo5uially referred to as the lder civilizations due to the fact

that they are no longer around), groups that have reached a high level of

technical development and galactic influence but subse5uently abandoned

physical reality, ceasing to ta%e serious interventionist interest in galactic

civilization They are also contrasted with what some Culture people

loosely refer to as 7barbarians7, societies of intelligent beings which lac%

the technical capacity to %now about or ta%e a serious role in their

interstellar neighbourhood

The #nvolved are also contrasted with hegemonising swarms(a term used

in several of $an%s+ 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 grey goo, but the term can be applied to cultures that are sufficiently

single-minded in their devotion to mass con5uest, control, and colonisation

$oth the Culture and the author (in his (otes 'n the C"lt"re) find this

behavior5uixoticand ridiculous !ost often, societies categorized 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 7hegemonising swarm7 in this context is considered
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegemonising_swarmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_goohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quixotismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegemonising_swarmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_goohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quixotism


23/27


24/27

Contact which focuses on containing and negating the threat of swarms of

self-replicating creatures (+hegswarms+)

'editBehaiour in war

9hile the Culture is normally pacifist, Contact historically acts as its military

arm in times of war, while 4pecial Circumstances can be considered

its secret serviceand its military intelligence .uring war, most of the

strategic and tactical decisions are ta%en by the !inds, with apparently only

a small number of especially gifted humans, the 7;eferrers7, being involved

in the top-level decisions #t is shown in Consider Phlebasthat actual

decisions to go to war (as opposed to purely defensive actions) are based

on a vote of all Culture citizens, presumably after vigorous discussionwithin the whole society

#t 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 #n the #diran-Culture 9ar(possibly one of the most hard-

fought wars for the normally extremely superior Culture forces), various star

systems, stellar regions and many orbital habitats were overrun by the

#dirans before the Culture had converted enough of its forces to military

footing The Culture !inds had had enough foresight to evacuate almost all

its affected citizens (apparently numbering in the many billions) in time

before actual hostilities reached them "s shown in Player of Games, this is

a standard Culture tactic, with its strong emphasis on protecting its citizens

rather than sacrificing some of them for short-term goals

9ar within the Culture is mostly fought by the Culture+s sentient warships,

the most powerful of these being war-converted A4Bs, 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,

and has little territory of its own)& combat drones e5uipped with %nife

missiles do appear in $escendantand 7terror weapons7 (basically

intelligent, nano-form assassins) are mentioned in Look to Windward, while

infantry combat suits of great power (also usable as capable combat

drones when without living occupants) are used in Matter

'edit;elevance to real-world politics
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=37http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiran-Culture_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terror_weapon_(The_Culture)http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=38http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=37http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiran-Culture_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terror_weapon_(The_Culture)http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=38


25/27

'edit'topia

Comparisons are often made between the Culture and twentieth and

twenty first century 9estern civilization(s), particularly their interventions in

less-developed societies These are often confused with regard to theauthor+s assumed politics'

#n its foreign policy, the Culture is reminiscent of neoconservativeidealism,

with a policy of intervening in foreign societies to promote its own cultural

values

!any'who5believe that the Culture is a utopia carrying significantly greater

moral legitimacy than the 9est+s, by comparison, proto-democracies 9hile

Culture interventions can seem similar at first to 9estern interventions,

especially when considered with their democratising rhetoric, the 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 lac%ing ethnic, religious, and sexual chauvinisms is in the

Culture+s interest as well urthermore, 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 9est

'editCriticism

!any of the practices employed by 4pecial Circumstances would be

considered distasteful even in the context of a 9estern democracy

xamples are the use of mercenaries to perform the wor% that the Culture

doesn+t want to get their hands dirty with, and even outright threats of

invasion (the Culture has issued ultimatums to other civilizations before)

4ome commentators have also argued that those 4C agents tas%ed with

civilising foreign cultures (and thus potentially also changing them into a

blander, more Culture-li%e state) are also those most li%ely to regret these

changes, with parallels drawn to real-world special forces trained to operate

within the cultural mindsets of foreign nations'

The events of Use of Weaonsare an example of 6ust how dirty 4pecial

Circumstances will play in order to get their way and the conspiracy at the

heart of the plot of Excessiondemonstrates how at least some !inds are
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=39http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-Brown-2001-SCLIB-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_policyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoconservativehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoid_weasel_wordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoid_weasel_wordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoid_weasel_wordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-Brown-2001-SCLIB-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_worldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=40http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-Brown-2001-SCLIB-1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=39http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-Brown-2001-SCLIB-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_policyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoconservativehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoid_weasel_wordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-Brown-2001-SCLIB-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_worldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=40http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-Brown-2001-SCLIB-1


26/27

prepared to ris% %illing sentient beings when they conclude that these

actions are beneficial for the long term good 4pecial Circumstances

represents a very small fraction of Contact, which itself is only a small

fraction of the entire Culture, ma%ing it comparable again to size andinfluence of modernintelligenceagencies

'edit#ssues raised

The Culture stories are largely about problems and paradoxes that

confront liberal societies The Culture itself is an 7ideal-typical7 liberal

society& that is, as pure an example as one can reasonably imagine #t is

highly egalitarian& the liberty of the individual is its most important value&

and all actions and decisions are expected to be determined according a

standard of reasonability and sociability inculcated into all people through a

progressive system of education #t is a society so beyond material

scarcitythat for almost all practical purposes its people can have and do

what they want #f they do not li%e the behavior 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 behavior'J

ven the Culture has to compromise its ideals where diplomacy and itsown security are concerned Contact, the group that handles these issues,

and 4pecial Circumstances, its secret service division, can employ only

those on whose talents and emotional stability it can rely, and may even

re6ect self-aware robots built for its purposes that fail to meet its

re5uirements ?ence these divisions are regarded as the Culture+s eliteand

membership is widely regarded as a prize& yet also, as described in many

of the novels, something that can be shameful as it contradicts many of the

Culture+s moral codes

9ithin Contact and 4pecial Circumstances, there are also inner circles that

can ta%e control in crises, somewhat contradictory to the ideal notions of

democratic and open process the Culture espouses Contact and 4pecial

Circumstances may suppress or delay the release of information, for

example to avoid creating public pressure for actions they consider

imprudent or to prevent other civilizations from exploiting certain situations

'J
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_(information_gathering)http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=41http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egalitarianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-scarcityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-scarcityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-JacksonHeilman2008OutsideContextProblems-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-JacksonHeilman2008OutsideContextProblems-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_(information_gathering)http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Culture&action=edit&section=41http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egalitarianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-scarcityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-scarcityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-JacksonHeilman2008OutsideContextProblems-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-JacksonHeilman2008OutsideContextProblems-4


27/27

#n dealing with less powerful regressive civilizations, the Culture usually

intervenes discreetly, for example by protecting and discreetly supporting

the more liberal elements, or subverting illiberal institutions or instance,

in Use of Weaons, the Culture operates within a less advanced illiberalsociety through control of a business cartel which is %nown for its

humanitarian and social development investments, as well as generic good

4amaritanism #n Excession, a sub-group of !inds conspires to provo%e a

war with the extremely sadistic "ffront, although the conspiracy is foiled by

a A4Bthat is a deep cover4pecial Circumstances agent "s of 11= only

one story, Consider Dhlebas(/2=3), pits the Culture against a highly

illiberal society of approximately e5ual power* the

aggressive,theocratic#dirans Though they posed no immediate, direct

threat to the Culture, the Culture declared war because it would have felt

useless if it allowed the #dirans+ ruthless expansion to continue The

Culture+s decision was a value-6udgement rather than

a utilitariancalculation, and the 7Deace action7 within the Culture seceded'JEater in the timeline of the Culture+s universe, the Culture has reached a

technological level at which most past civilizations have 4ublimed, in other

words disengaged from Aalactic politics and from most physical interactionwith other civilizations The Culture continues to behave 7li%e an idealistic

adolescent7'J

"s of 11=, three stories force the Culture to consider its approach to more

powerful civilizations #n one incident during the Culture-#diran 9ar, they

strive to avoid offending a civilization so advanced that it has disengaged

from Aalactic politics, and note that this hyper-advanced society is not a

threat to either the welfare or the values of the Culture'citation needed

#n Excession, an overwhelmingly more powerful individual from an

extremely advanced civilization is simply passing through on its way from

one plane of the physical ;eality to another, and there is no real

interaction #n the third case'citation neededit sets up teams to study a civilization

that is not threatening but is thought to have eliminated aggressors in the

past'J
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Systems_Vehiclehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_coverhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consider_Phlebashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theocratichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiranhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secedehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-JacksonHeilman2008OutsideContextProblems-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sublimedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-JacksonHeilman2008OutsideContextProblems-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture-Idiran_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-JacksonHeilman2008OutsideContextProblems-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Systems_Vehiclehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_coverhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consider_Phlebashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theocratichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiranhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secedehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-JacksonHeilman2008OutsideContextProblems-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sublimedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-JacksonHeilman2008OutsideContextProblems-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture-Idiran_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#cite_note-JacksonHeilman2008OutsideContextProblems-4

edu cultural and learning

Documents