Editing Excession (section)

==<span id="OCP"></span>Outside Context Problem==
This novel is about how the Culture deals with an Outside Context Problem (OCP). This is a problem that is "outside the context" as it is generally not considered until it occurs, and the capacity to actually conceive of or consider the OCP in the first place may not be possible or very limited (i.e., the majority of the group's population may not have the knowledge or ability to realize that the OCP can arise, or assume it is extremely unlikely). An example of OCP is an event in which a civilization does not consider the possibility that a much more [[technology|technologically]] advanced society can exist, and then encounters one.{{cn|date=October 2024}} 

The term is coined by Banks for the purpose of this novel, and described as follows:

{{blockquote|An Outside Context Problem was the sort of thing most civilizations encountered just once, and which they tended to encounter rather in the same way a sentence encountered a full stop. The usual example given to illustrate an Outside Context Problem was imagining you were a tribe on a largish, fertile island; you'd tamed the land, invented the wheel or writing or whatever, the neighbors were cooperative or enslaved but at any rate peaceful and you were busy raising temples to yourself with all the excess productive capacity you had, you were in a position of near-absolute power and control which your hallowed ancestors could hardly have dreamed of and the whole situation was just running along nicely like a canoe on wet grass... when suddenly this bristling lump of iron appears sailless and trailing steam in the bay and these guys carrying long funny-looking sticks come ashore and announce you've just been discovered, you're all subjects of the Emperor now, he's keen on presents called tax and these bright-eyed holy men would like a word with your priests.}}

Banks has noted that he spent much time playing the ''[[Civilization (series)|Civilization]]'' computer game (appearing to refer to the first version of the game series) before writing the book and that it was one of the inspirations for the concept of the 'Outside Context Problem' central to the novel. In an interview, Banks specifically compares this to having a ''Civilization'' battleship arrive while the player is still using wooden sailing ships.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Branscombe|first=Mary|date=July 1996|title=Iain M Banks' latest Culture novel is a tale of conspiracy, deception and eccentricity. So, Iain, we asked, what's it all about?|url=http://www.sandm.co.uk/mary/sfjournm/Excession/excession.html|journal=SFX Magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206132746/http://www.sandm.co.uk/mary/sfjournm/Excession/excession.html|archive-date=6 February 2008}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
::{{also|Black swan theory}}