> With all of that ready to hand, you would think that at least a few Culture citizens would have themselves scanned and uploaded into a computer where they can

> With all of that ready to hand, you would think that at least a few Culture citizens would have themselves scanned and uploaded into a computer where they can spend eternity doing whatever they way, including learning how to expand their mind into a Mind. I recall that it’s implied that a lot of members of the culture are hanging out in perpetual virtual reality, they just aren’t relevant to the story. As for a person becoming a Mind, I think the intention of the books is to convey that the gulf is uncrossable. A person is about as close to being a Mind as a grain of sand is, and new Minds are created exclusively by the existing Minds with care toward preserving the lineage of the Culture’s worldview and feeling of obligation toward stewardship for humans. It’s mentioned that Minds created without this sort of deliberate alignment-interference simply choose immediately to depart the reality that the Culture inhabits.