Is Humanity Part Of The Culture?
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- Опубліковано 30 лип 2024
- In this video, we’re taking another deep dive into the universe of Iain M Banks Cultures series to attempt to answer the question that stumps many readers: is Earth - and by extension humanity - part of the Cultures?
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0:00 - Intro
1:15 - Different Definitions of 'Human'
2:48 - Encounter with Earth
4:21 - The lifespan of Diziet Sma
6:07 - Ambiguity by Design
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DELPHINE DESCENDS
After her family is killed and her homeworld occupied, young Kathreen Martin is sent to the distant world of Furoris for re-education. She will live the rest of her life as a serf - to be bought and sold as a commodity of the Imperial Network.
When her only chance of escape is ruined, a chance mistaken identity offers her a new life as the orphaned daughter of a First-Citizen Senator and heiress to a vast fortune.
She vows to claw her way into power to sit among the worlds’ elite. Then, with her own hands, she will reap bloody vengeance on them all.
But to beat them, she must play their game. And she must play it better than them all.
BLACK MILK
Prometheus has the chance to bring his wife back from the dead, but doing so will mean the destruction of Earth.
Spanning time, planets and dimensions, Black Milk draws to a climactic point in a post-apocalyptic future, where humanity, stranded with no planet to call home, fights to survive against a post-human digital entity that pursues them through the depths of space.
Five lives separated by aeons are inextricably linked by Prometheus’s actions:
Ystil.3 is an AI unit sent back in time from the distant future to investigate Prometheus’s discovery...
The mysterious Lydia has devoted her life to finding a planet that the last remaining humans can call home…
Tom Jones (he’s a HUGE fan!) is an AI trapped inside a digital subspace, lost and desperate to find his way back to his beloved in real-time…
Dr Norma Stanwyck is a neuroscientist from 24th Century Earth whose personal choices ripple throughout time...
Prometheus must learn the necessity of death or the entire universe will be swallowed by his grief.
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The images in my videos are mostly licensed stock photos. However, occasionally I will use images found online. I always seek to properly credit artists and offer a link back to their amazing work but sometimes it's hard to find the original source of the work. If I've used an image you own and I haven't credited you, please feel free to get in touch as I am always more than happy to do so. - Розваги
I love that Banks didn't feel obligated to spell everything out for readers. Also many novels had threads that seemed to go nowhere or didnt lead to a successful outcome or really advance the main plotline. But that is how life works, and made me respect Banks more for having the discipline to not cave in and make things tidy.
The Algebraist is an Iain M Banks non-Culture novel with an interesting take on humanity. The humans in the novel are definitely from Earth, but there are two branches. The smaller group are earth-native humans who have moved out into the galaxy on their own and are now part of galactic society. The much larger branch are the descendants of abducted humans who have been living as members of the galactic society for millennia.
Hi Darrel. I remember Banks saying in an interview promoting his general fiction novel "The Business", that the corporation in that novel could be seen as the beginnings of a Culture-like entity on Earth.
Ah interesting!!! I’ll have to hunt for that interview 👍
And there was the mention of that one item in The Bridge that was likely a teaser for Consider Phlebas, which came out the following year, though Banks stated the connection is tenuous
@@verduohHa! The Bridge is, if anything, more of a Culture novel than Inversions :)
The Culture novels cover a long period, from about 1300 for the Idirian wars, till about 2800 for the events of the Surface detail novel. It's possible that during that time Earth would have progressed far enough to join by then, but it's never mentioned. In "State of the Art" Earth was only noticeable for it's averageness, mostly harmless.
In many of the works Contact interacts with humans a species far less developed than us now.
In the book "Consider Phlebas", after the conclusion of the story, there is an appendex that purports to be from the Culture, approved for dissemination among Earth humans, in the year 2110.
While it is early in Ian M. Banks' canon, it can be read as part of an introduction to Earth, by the Culture, in about a century's time.
In "State of the Art", (I don't have ready access to my copy), Diziet Sma's recollections are given in response to recent wider interest in Earth.
In Ian M. Bank's monolog, "A Few Notes About the Culture", he discusses how the Culture engages with fledgling civilizations. He mentions they refrain from tapping off the best and the brightest, or making copies of themselves by encouraging these younger civilizations to copy their ways, and only incorporate them into the Culture proper, if there is a "particularly good reason (and if Contact reckons it won't upset any other interested parties in the locality)".
As such, I'd argue that Earth does not join the Culture, but, briefly, there is faddish interest in it. This results in some things being lifted: games, names, phrases. While there may well be Earth humans wondering around the Culture civilization, as welcome, but unencouraged, guests, my reading of the books inclines me to suspect that the Culture would guide Earth, (after its utility as a "control case" ended with its introduction to the wider galactic society), rather than assimilate Earth.
I like your take on this. It gives me the slight hope that I, as an earth human, could have a chance of joining Culture. grin
I am supprised that this wasn't mentioned in the video.
I do love that The Culture loves Star Wars.
You have such a great job!
Wow, just made. Good video, I've read Banks, you think about especially the ships and those agents, as for humans I always just accepted what he wrote, and I missed that story about 1977! The video length was well thought out, and I'd love to make a room in my house look that mysterious colour you've achieved. Thanks. Incidentally, "Matter' is my favourite of the novels of Banks, and I recently reread it. When it originally came out I borrowed a hardback copy from the library by chance.
There's even a BBC Radio play. ua-cam.com/video/IRl9D_agLbU/v-deo.htmlsi=0P8pESx_IGoMq16Z
I thouight I read that story, but apparently not. I'm fond of stories about lost puddles of humanity, separated from a greater whole by choice or circumstance. Feersum Enjin, for instance. I'd always just assumed the culture were our vastly distant descendants. I need to re-read the series. It's nice to think of a busy galactic civilisation we're simply not advanced enough to detect. I thought the Culture was in the habit of officially not interferring, but secretly used Special Circumstances (?) to guide budding civilisations along paths that made compatible with the Culture?
I was fairly confident that it was not but you are far more familiar with the books
Thought it might be (have not read the state of the art) - used that thought to better relate to the players - I read the series multiple times. Has any other author written in the Culture universe? Could they?
Often thought that question and loved your thoughts
Elon musk suppose to come up with neurolink from reading the culture novels, and if this away into cybogs or human and huminty entering into biotechnology evolution , well maybe humanity will be in part because of the cultrue ?
Earth civilization eventually grew up and joined the Culture. Well, that's fiction alright 😏
This video was wonderful, good lighting, good sound, nice graphics, handsome host. 10/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Culture citizens weren't always humanoid. In Excession it's stated that a fad for "outlandish" bodily forms had ended about a thousand years earlier, so just a few hundred years before the Idiran war. These included a puff of smoke and a potted plant., The humanoid forms worn by culture citizens in the novels are equivalent to conservative clothing.
I remembered it that Earth did join Culture but doing research I see this is a kind of test about what you think of humanity and the Culture’s politics. If you are optimistic about humanity and love the society of the Culture you assume we will.
There isn't any real ambiguity about this. There was piece from a document called Earth Extro-Information Pack at end of Consider Phelbas. It mentioned that Earth was contacted by the culture in the year 2100. It don't know how long it took earth to fully join culture after that or it ever did, but definitely gives us a definite date that Earth wasn't yet a part of the culture.
The matter of earth never occurred to me. The Culture is the culture.
You haven't read "State of the Art"?
@@peterknutsen3070 Not yet. I've just read Consider Phleabas so far, I've just bought The Player of Games, so that's next.
There is a scene in which one of the protaganists is walking through a simulation of the London Blitz, so yes Earth was/is part of the Culture.
So weird when someone pronounces a name differently to the way you think of it when reading. For me it's "Dizzy it" Sma.
Hey earth wasn't directly mentioned or implicated as the planet soo it's very hard to buy into this .. sure their tech level was equivalent to present earth level but the SC agents didn't mention earth . Now in another book or same one they did mention going to an interstellar civiliztion territory and meeting a woman who casualy asked if he ( a special circumstances agent ) was alien ..it was located in some cluster which can be immense
I wait for a new author to explore the Culture Universe with renewed imagination. The bones are there, they just need fleshing out.
So sad that Iain Banks is no longer with us to lead the exploration.
Two issues occured to me
One is that one of the shipm minds calls itself Jack Ketch who was an executioner in London in the 17Century inducating that the ship minds were aware of earth history
Secondly something that only a tech author would worry about. Years. How long is a Culture year? Not the time it takes earth to circle the sun surely?
And I forgot to say. You have a really great channel!
I am having to reread books I skimmed through originally - especially the Culture novels
Thanks
Did the Culture really have a non-interference policy? I seem to remember reading that they very actively interfere, with good intentions, in other species development, and that earth was just one of the worlds that was left alone as a control group. Because the Culture like to be able to prove that they're doing the right thing.
Question, which culture book has the most insight on what daily life for a citizen of The Culture looks like?
I would say 'Look to Windward'.
The Culture civilization is contemporary to Sol Earthers; 'We' are not in it though. When I say 'We' I refer to you and me, not some exotic that i am unaware of. Corey Good might be. Contact would be watching and the probabilities crunched as to whether we advance as a civilization past this next nuclear threat, WW3. Contact would also likely be happy to check back in a century.
AFAIR no, as long as we talk about Earth.
Thank you for your videos.
After every Culture related video I always find myself committing to another re-read.
For some reason, and with no real proof, I just always "felt" like there were a few earth-humans within the Culture. Probably just subliminal wishful thinking.
She prefers that her name be enunciated Diz-Aet Sma, not DI-zaet Sma. You really don't want to piss her off!
Lol. You really don’t. In the audiobooks and also the BBC Radio 4 production of The State of the Art, it’s pronounced Dizzy-yet
In short, no.
No, theres a joke about Earth being called "Dirt" as someone passed.....
We COULD be, but we're definitely not gonna. We like our kings and masters too much.