2 ms·

> In the one Culture story that refers to our planet, “The State of the Art,” Sma is among a group of Contact representatives who visit Earth in the year 1977.

> In the one Culture story that refers to our planet, “The State of the Art,” Sma is among a group of Contact representatives who visit Earth in the year 1977. After a period of careful investigation, Sma argues — in the official report that constitutes most of the story — that the Culture needs to intervene to clean up the mess that human beings are making of our world. Were such an intervention to take place, Special Circumstances would spearhead it. However, one of her colleagues finds the Star Trek television series almost the only redeeming feature of Earth civilization and recommends that the whole planet be destroyed. Special Circumstances would handle that as well. I'm not really a fan of the Culture, but that kind of blows up any illusions about it. The against-their-will homogenizing manipulations are one thing, but actual literal unprovoked genocide? If that's an option what other kinds of skeletons can this utopia be assumed to have in its closet?

Angostura 6y ago
I've just pulled my copy from the shelf and am starting to re-read, but I'm sure Sma doesn't recommend the destruction of Earth. That would be very un-Sma
- NateEag 6y ago
  > However, one of her colleagues finds the Star Trek television series almost the only redeeming feature of Earth civilization and recommends that the whole planet be destroyed. According to the quote, Sma's _colleague_ recommends destroying Earth, not Sma.
- zabzonk 6y ago
  > I'm sure Sma doesn't recommend the destruction of Earth That's not what the post you are replying to said.
nsm 6y ago
Individuals in the Culture are free to state whatever they want, that doesn't mean the civilization executes it. Taking the thought (not action) of one individual in a civilization that has on the order of trillions of individuals is hardly being fair to your representation of the Culture. In addition, whereas in our world, such a person would likely be Twitter shamed into oblivion, even if they had such a thought as teenager, in the Culture they would have a reasonable argument with other humans and Minds that would attempt to convince them of the foolishness of pursuing a genocidal agenda. The Culture tries to preserve life as much as possible. For context, what actually ends up happening is that Earth is left to its own devices. The Culture is dedicated to doing the right thing, but that right thing isn't always easy to figure out. To quote the State of the Art: [Diziet Sma asking the Ship Mind] "How certain do we have to be? How long must we make them wait? Who elected us God?" [The ship] "Diziet... that question is being asked all the time, and put in as many different ways we have the wit to devise (...) and that moral equation is being re-assessed every nanosecond of every day of every year, and every time we find some place like Earth -- no matter what way the decision [to interfere or not] goes -- we come closer to knowing the truth. But we can never be absolutely certain... I'm the smartest thing for a hundred light years' radius, and by a factor of about a million (...) but even I can't predict where a snooker ball's going to end up after more than six collisions."

Angostura 6y ago

I've just pulled my copy from the shelf and am starting to re-read, but I'm sure Sma doesn't recommend the destruction of Earth. That would be very un-Sma

NateEag 6y ago
> However, one of her colleagues finds the Star Trek television series almost the only redeeming feature of Earth civilization and recommends that the whole planet be destroyed. According to the quote, Sma's _colleague_ recommends destroying Earth, not Sma.
zabzonk 6y ago
> I'm sure Sma doesn't recommend the destruction of Earth That's not what the post you are replying to said.

nsm 6y ago

Individuals in the Culture are free to state whatever they want, that doesn't mean the civilization executes it. Taking the thought (not action) of one individual in a civilization that has on the order of trillions of individuals is hardly being fair to your representation of the Culture. In addition, whereas in our world, such a person would likely be Twitter shamed into oblivion, even if they had such a thought as teenager, in the Culture they would have a reasonable argument with other humans and Minds that would attempt to convince them of the foolishness of pursuing a genocidal agenda. The Culture tries to preserve life as much as possible. For context, what actually ends up happening is that Earth is left to its own devices. The Culture is dedicated to doing the right thing, but that right thing isn't always easy to figure out. To quote the State of the Art: [Diziet Sma asking the Ship Mind] "How certain do we have to be? How long must we make them wait? Who elected us God?" [The ship] "Diziet... that question is being asked all the time, and put in as many different ways we have the wit to devise (...) and that moral equation is being re-assessed every nanosecond of every day of every year, and every time we find some place like Earth -- no matter what way the decision [to interfere or not] goes -- we come closer to knowing the truth. But we can never be absolutely certain... I'm the smartest thing for a hundred light years' radius, and by a factor of about a million (...) but even I can't predict where a snooker ball's going to end up after more than six collisions."