Editing The Culture (section)

===Death===<!-- This section is linked from The Culture -->
The Culture has a relatively relaxed attitude towards death. Genetic manipulation and the continual benevolent surveillance of the Minds make natural or accidental death almost unknown. Advanced technology allows citizens to make backup copies of their personalities, allowing them to be [[Resurrection|resurrected]] in case of death. The form of that resurrection can be specified by the citizen, with personalities returning either in the same biological form, in an artificial form (see below), or even just within [[virtual reality]]. Some citizens choose to go into "storage" (a form of suspended animation) for long periods of time, out of boredom or curiosity about the future.

Attitudes individual citizens have towards death are varied (and have varied throughout the Culture's history). While many, if not most, citizens make some use of backup technology, many others do not, preferring instead to risk death without the possibility of recovery (for example when engaging in [[extreme sports]]). These citizens are sometimes called "disposables", and are described in ''Look to Windward''. Taking into account such accidents, voluntary [[euthanasia]] for emotional reasons, or choices like sublimation, the average lifespan of humans is described in ''Excession'' as being around 350 to 400 years. Some citizens choose to forgo death altogether, although this is rarely done and is viewed as an eccentricity. Other options instead of death include conversion of an individual's consciousness into an [[Mind uploading|AI]], joining of a group mind (which can include biological and non-biological consciousnesses), or subliming (usually in association with a group mind).

Concerning the lifespan of drones and Minds, given the durability of Culture technology and the options of mindstate backups, it is reasonable to assume that they live as long as they choose. Even Minds, with their utmost complexity, are known to be backed up (and reactivated if they for example die in a risky mission, see ''GSV Lasting Damage''). It is noted that even Minds themselves do not necessarily live forever either, often choosing to eventually sublime or even killing themselves (as does the double-Mind ''GSV Lasting Damage'' due to its choices in the Culture-Idiran war).