4 ms·
I LOVED reading the culture. I'm still working my way through the books. They're eminently quotable. Here are some of my favourites: > “Empathize with stupidit
by bollu 6y ago
I LOVED reading the culture. I'm still working my way through the books. They're eminently quotable. Here are some of my favourites:
> “Empathize with stupidity and you’re halfway to thinking like an idiot,”
> It would have helped if the Culture had used some sort of emblem or logo; but, pointlessly unhelpful and unrealistic to the last, the Culture refused to place its trust in symbols. It maintained that it was what it was and had no need for such outward representation.
> Just as it could not imprison itself with laws, impoverish itself with money or misguide itself with leaders, so it would not misrepresent itself with signs.
> So it had effectively frozen its primary memory and cognitive functions, wrapping them in fields which prevented both decay and use. It was working instead on back-up picocircuitry, in real space, and using real-space light to think with (how humiliating).
> Originally Damage was played on such occasions because only during the breakdown of law and morality, and the confusion and chaos normally surrounding Final Events, could the game be carried out in anything remotely resembling part of the civilized galaxy; which, believe it or not, the Players like to think they’re part of.
I hope this coveys the texture of the books. I have more quotes collected at my blog.http://bollu.github.io/quotes-from-the-culture.html http://bollu.github.io/quotes-from-the-culture.html
- novok 6y agoBut they do have a logo, it's the phrase 'the culture' itself.
- worik 6y ago\pedantic{on} The Culture \pedantic{off}
- zabzonk 6y agoAnd its motto, mostly applied by its neighbours/friends/enemies/whatever - "Don't Fuck With The Culture".
- theshrike79 6y agoThe coolest moment is when some other civilization starts attacking the Culture and keeps winning. They think it's because they're weak. Actually they're just considering how to end the conflict without completely eradicating the other guys. Finally they decide to ramp up production of warships and completely annihilate their opposition.
- tialaramex 6y agoThe Culture doesn't even necessarily define itself that way. During "The Excession" the secret inner cabal of starship minds which calls itself the "Interesting Times Gang" has a discussion in which it appears that one of the members of the group has invited a variety of unexpected participants, including an enemy starship which describes its membership of the Culture as "Integration Factor 80% {nb; self-assessed}". The whole point of Ambassadors to the Culture is spelled out in "Look to Windward" as being to have people from other civilisations realise that actually the Culture is better and they should just become part of the Culture, not Ambassadors from the Culture, this is the Ambassadors sent by those other civilisations to the Culture, the Culture just assumes that you'd only do this because you were toying with the idea of joining.