Taygetan and "Swaruunian" Team Forum

naringas

Member

The Culture (by Iain M. Banks)

Has anybody read any of this fictional works?

any thoughts? are holographic societies "the culture"?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture

and a quote I read in some unrelated book (paraphrasing) "sometimes fiction is the best way to tell the truth"

DarkOwl

Member

Re: The Culture (by Iain M. Banks)

Looks like a really interesting series of books with lots of parallels to reality.

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Most experiences are unsayable, they happen in a space that no word has ever entered    Rainer Maria Rilke

ro2778

Member

Re: The Culture (by Iain M. Banks)

This was one of my favourite series when I was growing up. The Culture is is a post-scarcity civilisation so in that way it's similar but the AI is quite invasive in The Culture and people are essentially their pets who live a hedonistic lifestyle. So I don't think the balance between AI and the people is quite right vs societies in Taygeta for example. But then equally there may be societies out there that more closely resemble The Culture, that's inevitable as infinitite possibilities are catered for in reality.

This series of books also clearly influenced Elon Musk, in particular the style with which he names his recovery boats:
Just Read the Instructions (II) (JRTI)
A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG) &
Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY)

The ship names are the best part of those books