At 10:17 AM 30/10/00 -0800, Hal wrote:
>the Culture does not seem to be
>a fully mature technological civilization; they still have "progress":
>drones and ships hundreds of years old are not as advanced as newer
>ones. So we have a curious coincidence in time as well as in physical
>appearance; the Culture has appeared at very roughly the same time as
>our own technological civilization.
Banks mentions that the [currently] slightly enhanced Culture humanoids
have *chosen* this arrested state (perhaps as a kind of societal SCA
impersonation - the fun is in the selected limits). Earlier super/posthuman
phases are cited. Maybe the AI Minds tend to keep them restricted to this
level by subtle persuasion, since they are plainly amusing and indulged pets.
Damien Broderick
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