> Indeed the implications and technologies of backing-up humans is not really addressed often or deeply in the novels. I'm not sure what "often" or "deeply" me

> Indeed the implications and technologies of backing-up humans is not really addressed often or deeply in the novels. I'm not sure what "often" or "deeply" means, but I consider Surface Detail to be revolving entirely around those questions. The inciting incident, Lededje's reincarnation, can only happen because a Culture Mind has implanted her with a neural lace earlier. A bit of Culture tech which made a full backup of her mind state. The underlying conflict of the book, the "War in Heaven" is also about this question. Namely if cultures of the universe should be allowed of creating artificial Hells. Basically simulated realities where the backed-up sentients are tortured according to the morale percepts of the given culture. And to settle this question they fight in a simulated war game, where every soldier is a simulated instance of a personality backup, revented again and again to fight in different bodies on different simulated battle fields.