> He never delves into the ordinary lives of citizens of the Culture because doing so would reveal the impossiblity of a "post-scarcity" society populated by hu

> He never delves into the ordinary lives of citizens of the Culture because doing so would reveal the impossiblity of a "post-scarcity" society populated by human beings who are only capable of being happy if they have "more" than their neighbours I disagree. There are quite a few looks at the lives of ordinary Culture citizens, and they indicate pretty strongly that this dilemma (if it indeed still exists) is resolved by individualizing lifestyles to the point where "do I have more than my neighbours?" becomes a meaningless question. And to me this does not seem far-fetched or something "humanity is not and never has been" at all; right now, "keeping up with the Joneses" is already a concept of diminishing importance as people find other ways to feel accomplished.