[ExI] Iain M Banks' Culture Novels [WAS Re: Usages of the term libertarianism]

[Keith Henson]

On Sat, May 21, 2011 at 6:08 AM, Stefano Vaj <stefano.vaj at gmail.com> wrote:

snip

> I find the Culture an abherrant positive spin on a Brave-New-Worldish
> scenario projected on a galaxy scale...
>
> (Controlled, enslaved) technology at the service of stagnation and
> uniformity is much more of a threat for indefinite becoming and
> diverse posthuman change than any neoluddite dreams.

I don't know how you can make a case for stagnation from the Culture novels.

There is specific mention of warships (for example) getting a lot
better over time.  The problem the Culture has is that significant
change will take them over the edge.  They know it because there are
many such races that have done that.

Banks, Vinge and Stross all try to deal with the problem of human
characters living among gods.  Of course, it's a requirement for a
novel to have characters readers can identify with.  Banks deals with
the constant temptation of transcending (whole cultures doing so) buy
drawing a curtain around those who do so.

I used the "zoo" mode to get characters in the unfinished novel of
which "The Clinic Seed" is a chapter.

http://www.terasemjournals.org/GNJournal/GN0202/henson7.html
http://www.terasemjournals.org/GNJournal/GN0202/henson8.html

Here we have a couple with ten children and no grand kids.  Ah well,
being effectively immortal they can keep trying.

Keith