Editing The Culture (section)

==Citizens==

===Biological===
The Culture is a [[Posthuman (Human evolution)|posthuman]] society, which originally arose when seven or eight roughly [[humanoid]] space-faring species coalesced into a quasi-collective (a group-civilisation) ultimately consisting of approximately thirty [[1000000000000 (number)|trillion]] ([[long and short scales|short scale]]) sentient and sapient beings (this includes artificial intelligences). In Banks's universe, a good part (but by no means an overwhelming percentage) of all sentient species is of the "pan-human" type, as noted in ''[[Matter (novel)|Matter]]''.

Although the Culture was originated by humanoid species, subsequent interactions with other civilisations have introduced many non-humanoid species into the Culture (including some former enemy civilisations), though the majority of the biological Culture is still pan-human. Little uniformity exists in the Culture, and its citizens are such by choice, free to change physical form and even species (though some stranger biological conversions are irreversible, and conversion from biological to artificial sentience is considered to be what is known as an Unusual Life Choice). All members are also free to join, leave, and rejoin, or indeed declare themselves to be, say, 80% Culture.

Within the novels, opponents of the Culture have argued that the role of humans in the Culture is nothing more than that of pets, or parasites on Culture Minds, and that they can have nothing genuinely useful to contribute to a society where science is close to omniscient about the physical universe, where every ailment has been cured, and where every thought can be read. Many of the Culture novels in fact contain characters (from within or without the Culture) wondering how far-reaching the Minds' dominance of the Culture is, and how much of the democratic process within it might in fact be a sham: subtly but very powerfully influenced by the Minds in much the same ways Contact and Special Circumstances influence other societies. Also, except for some mentions about a vote over the Idiran-Culture War, and the existence of a very small number of "Referrers" (humans of especially acute reasoning), few biological entities are ever described as being involved in any high-level decisions.

On the other hand, the Culture can be seen as fundamentally [[Hedonism|hedonistic]] (one of the main objectives for any being, including Minds, is to have fun rather than to be "useful"). Also, Minds are constructed, by convention, to care for and value human beings. While a General Contact Unit (GCU) does not strictly need a crew (and could construct artificial avatars when it did), a real human crew adds richness to its existence, and offers distraction during otherwise dull periods. In ''[[Consider Phlebas]]'' it is noted that Minds still find humans fascinating, especially their odd ability to sometimes achieve similarly advanced reasoning as their much more complex machine brains.

To a large degree, the freedoms enjoyed by humans in the Culture are only available because Minds choose to provide them. The freedoms include the ability to leave the Culture when desired, often forming new associated but separate societies with Culture ships and Minds, most notably the Zetetic Elench and the ultra-pacifist and non-interventionist Peace Faction.

====Physiology====
Techniques in [[genetics]] have advanced in the Culture to the point where bodies can be freed from built-in limitations. Citizens of the Culture refer to a normal human as "human-basic" and the vast majority opt for significant enhancements: severed limbs grow back, sexual physiology can be voluntarily changed from male to female and back (though the process takes time),{{sfn|Banks|1988}} sexual stimulation and endurance are strongly heightened in both sexes (something that is often the subject of envious debate among other species), pain can be switched off, toxins can be bypassed away from the digestive system, autonomic functions such as heart rate can be switched to conscious control, reflexes like blinking can be switched off, and bones and muscles adapt quickly to changes in gravity without the need to exercise. The degree of enhancement found in Culture individuals varies to taste, with certain of the more exotic enhancements limited to Special Circumstances personnel (for example, weapons systems embedded in various parts of the body).

Most Culture individuals opt to have drug glands that allow for hormonal levels and other chemical secretions to be consciously monitored, released and controlled. These allow owners to secrete on command any of a wide selection of synthetic drugs, from the merely relaxing to the mind-altering: "Snap" is described in ''[[Use of Weapons]]'' and ''[[The Player of Games]]'' as "The Culture's favourite breakfast drug". "Sharp Blue" is described as a utility drug, as opposed to a sensory enhancer or a sexual stimulant, that helps in problem solving. "Quicken", mentioned in ''[[Excession]]'', speeds up the user's neural processes so that time seems to slow down, allowing them to think and have mental conversation (for example with artificial intelligences) in far less time than it appears to take to the outside observer. "Sperk", as described in ''Matter'', is a mood- and energy-enhancing drug, while other such self-produced drugs include "Calm", "Gain", "Charge", "Recall", "Diffuse", "Somnabsolute", "Softnow", "Focal", "Edge", "Drill", "Gung", "Winnow" and "Crystal Fugue State". The glanded substances have no permanent side-effects and are non-habit-forming.

====Phenotypes====

For all their genetic improvements, the Culture is by no means [[eugenics|eugenically]] uniform. Human members in the Culture setting vary in size, colour and shape as in reality, and with possibly even further natural differences: in the novella ''The State of the Art'', it is mentioned that a character "looks like a Yeti", and that there is variance among the Culture in minor details such as the number of toes or of joints on each finger. It is mentioned in ''Excession'' that:

{{quote|the tenor of the time had generally turned against... outlandishness and people had mostly returned to looking more like people over the last millennium... (previously) as the fashions of the intervening times had ordained&nbsp;– people... had resembled birds, fish, dirigible balloons, snakes, small clouds of cohesive smoke and animated bushes.}}

Some Culture citizens opt to leave the constraints of a human or even humanoid body altogether, opting to take on the appearance of one of the myriad other galactic sentients (perhaps in order to live with them) or even non-sentient objects as commented upon in ''Matter'' (though this process can be irreversible if the desired form is too removed from the structure of the human brain). Certain eccentrics have chosen to become drones or even Minds themselves, though this is considered rude and possibly even insulting by most humans and AIs alike.

While the Culture is generally pan-humanoid (and tends to call itself "human"), various other species and individuals of other species have become part of the Culture.

As all Culture citizens are of perfect genetic health, the very rare cases of a Culture citizen showing any physical deformity are almost certain to be a sort of fashion statement of somewhat dubious taste.

====Personality====
Almost all Culture citizens are very sociable and of great intellectual capability and learning, and possess very well{{nbh}}balanced psyches. Their biological make-up and their growing up in an enlightened society make neuroses and lesser emotions like greed or (strong) jealousy practically unknown, and produce persons that, in any lesser society, appear very self-composed and charismatic. Character traits like strong shyness, while very rare, are not fully unknown, as shown in ''Excession''. As described there and in ''Player of Games'', a Culture citizen who becomes dysfunctional enough to pose a serious nuisance or threat to others would be offered (voluntary) psychological adjustment therapy and might potentially find themself under constant (non-voluntary) oversight by representatives of the local Mind. In extreme cases, as described in ''Use of Weapons'' and ''[[Surface Detail]]'', dangerous individuals have been known to be assigned a "slap-drone", a robotic follower who ensures that the person in question doesn't continue to endanger the safety of others.

===Artificial===
As well as humans and other biological species, sentient artificial intelligences are also members of the Culture. These can be broadly categorised into drones and Minds. Also, by custom, as described in ''Excession'', any artefact (be it a tool or vessel) above a certain capability level has to be given sentience.

====Drones====
Drones are roughly comparable in intelligence and social status to that of the Culture's biological members. Their intelligence is measured against that of an average biological member of the Culture; a so-called "1.0 value" drone would be considered the mental equal of a biological citizen, whereas lesser drones such as the menial service units of Orbitals are merely proto-sentient (capable of limited reaction to unprogrammed events, but possessing no consciousness, and thus not considered citizens; these take care of much of the menial work in the Culture). The sentience of advanced drones has various levels of redundancy, from systems similar to that of Minds (though much reduced in capability) down to electronic, to mechanical and finally biochemical back-up brains.

Although drones are artificial, the parameters that prescribe their minds are not rigidly constrained, and sentient drones are full individuals, with their own personalities, opinions and quirks. Like biological citizens, Culture drones generally have lengthy names. They also have a form of sexual intercourse for pleasure, called being "in thrall", though this is an intellect-only interfacing with another sympathetic drone.

While civilian drones do generally match humans in intelligence, drones built especially as Contact or Special Circumstances agents are often several times more intelligent, and imbued with extremely powerful senses, powers and armaments (usually forcefield and effector-based, though occasionally more destructive weaponry such as lasers or, exceptionally, "knife-missiles" are referred to) all powered by antimatter reactors. Despite being purpose-built, these drones are still allowed individual personalities and given a choice in lifestyle. Indeed, some are eventually deemed psychologically unsuitable as agents (for example as Mawhrin-Skel notes about itself in ''The Player of Games'') and must choose either mental reprofiling or demilitarisation and discharge from Special Circumstances.

Physically, drones are floating units of various sizes and shapes, usually with no visible moving parts. Drones get around the limitations of this inanimation with the ability to project "fields": both those capable of physical force, which allow them to manipulate objects, as well as visible, coloured fields called "auras", which are used to enable the drone to express emotion. There is a complex drone code based on aura colours and patterns (which is fully understood by biological Culture citizens as well). Drones have full control of their auras and can display emotions they're not feeling or can switch their aura off. The drone, Jase, in ''Consider Phlebas'', is described as being constructed before the use of auras, and refuses to be retrofitted with them, preferring to remain inscrutable.

In size drones vary substantially: the oldest still alive (eight or nine thousand years old) tend to be around the size of humans, whereas later technology allows drones to be small enough to lie in a human's cupped palm; modern drones may be any size between these extremes according to fashion and personal preference. Some drones are also designed as utility equipment with its own sentience, such as the gelfield protective suit described in ''Excession''.

====Minds====
By contrast to drones, Minds are orders of magnitude more powerful and intelligent than the Culture's other biological and artificial citizens. Typically they inhabit and act as the controllers of large-scale Culture hardware such as ships or space-based habitats. Unsurprisingly, given their duties, Minds are tremendously powerful: capable of running all of the functions of a ship or habitat, while holding potentially billions of simultaneous conversations with the citizens that live aboard them. To allow them to perform at such a high degree, they exist partially in hyperspace to get around hindrances to computing power such as the speed of light.

Some inhabited [[planet]]s and all [[Orbital (The Culture)|orbitals]] have their own Minds: sapient, hyperintelligent machines originally built by biological species, which have evolved, redesigned themselves, and become many times more intelligent than their original creators.{{sfn|Lippens|2002}} According to ''Consider Phlebas'', a Mind is an ellipsoid object roughly the size of a bus and weighing around {{formatnum:15000}} tons. A Mind is in fact a [[Four-dimensional space|{{abbr|4-D|four-dimensional}} entity]], meaning that the ellipsoid is only the protrusion of the larger four dimensional device into our {{abbr|3D|three-dimensional}} 'real space'.

In the Culture universe, Minds have become an indispensable part of the prevailing society, enabling much of its [[post-scarcity]] amenities by [[economic planning|planning]] and automating societal functions, and by handling day-to-day administration with mere fractions of their mental power.

The main difference between Minds and other extremely powerful [[artificial intelligence]]s in fiction is that they are highly humanistic and benevolent. They are so both by design, and by their shared culture. They are often even rather eccentric.  Yet, by and large, they show no wish to supplant or dominate their erstwhile creators.

On the other hand, it can also be argued that to the Minds, the human-like members of the Culture amount to little more than pets, whose wants are followed on a Mind's whim. Within the Series, this dynamic is played on more than once.{{sfn|Westfahl|2006}} In 'Excession', it is also played on to put a Mind in its place—in the mythology, a Mind is not thought to be a god, still, but an artificial intelligence capable of surprise, and even fear.
 
;{{vanchor|Overview}}
Although the Culture is a type of [[utopia]]n [[anarchy (word)|anarchy]], Minds most closely approach the status of [[leadership|leader]]s, and would likely be considered godlike in less rational societies. As independent, thinking beings, each has its own character, and indeed, legally (insofar as the Culture has a 'legal system'), each is a Culture citizen. Some Minds are more aggressive, some more calm; some don't mind mischief, others simply demonstrate intellectual curiosity. But above all they tend to behave rationally and benevolently in their decisions.

As mentioned before, Minds can serve several different purposes, but Culture ships and habitats have one special attribute: the Mind and the ship or habitat are perceived as one entity; in some ways the Mind ''is'' the ship, certainly from its passengers' point of view. It seems normal practice to address the ship's Mind as "Ship" (and an Orbital hub as "Hub"). However, a Mind can transfer its 'mind state' into and out of its ship 'body', and even switch roles entirely, becoming (for example) an Orbital Hub from a warship.

More often than not, the Mind's character defines the ship's purpose. Minds do not end up in roles unsuited to them; an antisocial Mind simply would not volunteer to organise the care of thousands of humans, for example.
On occasion groupings of two or three Minds may run a ship. This seems normal practice for larger vehicles such as {{abbr|GSV|General Systems Vehicle}}s, though smaller ships only ever seem to have one Mind.

Banks also hints at a Mind's personality becoming defined at least partially before its creation or 'birth'. Warships, as an example, are designed to revel in controlled destruction; seeing a certain glory in achieving a 'worthwhile' death also seems characteristic. The presence of human crews on board warships may discourage such recklessness, since in the normal course of things, a Mind would not risk beings other than itself.

With their almost godlike powers of reasoning and action comes a temptation to bend (or break) Cultural norms of ethical behaviour, if deemed necessary for some greater good. In ''[[The Player of Games]]'', a Culture citizen is blackmailed, apparently by Special Circumstances Minds, into assisting the overthrow of a barbaric empire, while in ''[[Excession]]'', a conspiracy by some Minds to start a war against an oppressive alien race nearly comes to fruition. Yet even in these rare cases, the essentially benevolent intentions of Minds towards other Culture citizens is never in question. More than any other beings in the Culture, Minds are the ones faced with the more complex and provocative ethical dilemmas.
 
;{{vanchor|Technology}}
While Minds would likely have different capabilities, especially seeing their widely differing ages (and thus technological sophistication), this is not a theme of the books. It might be speculated that the older Minds are upgraded to keep in step with the advances in technology, thus making this point moot. It is also noted in ''[[Matter (novel)|Matter]]'' that every Culture Mind writes its own [[Operating system|{{abbr|OS|operating system}}]], thus continually improving itself and, as a side benefit, becoming much less vulnerable to outside takeover by electronic means and viruses, as every Mind's processing functions work differently.

The high computing power of the Mind is apparently enabled by thought processes (and electronics) being constantly in hyperspace (thus circumventing the light speed limit in computation).{{sfn|Newitz|2019}} Minds do have back-up capabilities functioning with light-speed if the hyperspace capabilities fail - however, this reduces their computational powers by several [[orders of magnitude]] (though they remain sentient).

The storage capability of a GSV Mind is described in ''[[Consider Phlebas]]'' as 10<sup>30</sup> bytes (1 million [[yottabyte]]s).

The Culture is a society undergoing slow (by present-day Earth standards) but constant technological change, so the stated capacity of Minds is open to change. In the last 3,000 years, the capacity of Minds has increased considerably. By the time of the events of the novel ''[[Excession]]'' in the mid 19th century, Minds from the first millennium {{abbr|BCE|Before Common Era}} are referred to jocularly as minds, with a small 'm'. Their capacities only allow them to be considered equivalent to what are now known as {{abbr|AI|Artificial Intelligence}} Cores, small (in the literal physical sense) Artificial intelligences used in shuttles, trans-light modules, Drones, and other machines not large enough for a full scale Mind. While still considered sentient, a mind's power at this point is considered greatly inferior to a contemporary Mind. That said, It is possible for Minds to have upgrades, improvements and enhancements given to them since construction, to allow them to remain up to date.

Using the sensory equipment available to the Culture, Minds can see inside solid objects; in principle they can also read minds by examining the cellular processes inside a living brain, but Culture Minds regard such mindreading as taboo. The only known Mind to break this Taboo, the {{abbr|GCU|General Contact Unit}} ''Grey Area'' seen in ''[[Excession]]'', is largely ostracized and shunned by other Minds as a result. In ''[[Look to Windward]]'' an example is cited of an attempt to destroy a Culture Mind by smuggling a minuscule [[antimatter]] bomb onto a Culture orbital inside the head of a Chelgrian agent. However the bomb ends up being spotted without the taboo being broken.

In ''Consider Phlebas'', a typical Mind is described as a mirror-like [[ellipsoid]] of several dozen cubic metres, but weighing many thousands of tons, due to the fact that it is made up of hyper-dense matter. It is noted that most of its 'body' only exists in the real world at the outer shell, the inner workings staying constantly within [[hyperspace (science fiction)|hyperspace]].

The Mind in ''Consider Phlebas'' is also described as having internal power sources which function as back-up shield generators and space propulsion, and seeing the rational, safety-conscious thinking of Minds, it would be reasonable to assume that all Minds have such features, as well as a complement of drones and other remote sensors as also described.

Other equipment available to them spans the whole range of the Culture's technological capabilities and its [[post-scarcity|practically limitless resources]]. However, this equipment would more correctly be considered emplaced in the ship or orbital that the Mind is controlling, rather than being part of the Mind itself.{{sfn|Newitz|2019}}
 
;{{vanchor|Psychology}}
Minds are constructed entities, which have general parameters fixed by their constructors (other Minds) before 'birth', not unlike biological beings. A wide variety of characteristics can be and are manipulated, such as [[introversion]]-[[extroversion]], [[aggressiveness]] (for warships) or general disposition.

However, the character of a Mind evolves as well, and Minds often change over the course of centuries, sometimes changing personality entirely. This is often followed by them becoming eccentric or at least somewhat odd. Others drift from the Culture-accepted ethical norms, and may even start influencing their own society in subtle ways, selfishly furthering their own views of how the Culture should act.

Minds have also been known to commit suicide to escape punishment, or because of grief.

Minds are constructed with a personality typical of the Culture's interests, i.e. full of curiosity, general benevolence (expressed in the 'good works' actions of the Culture, or in the protectiveness regarding sentient beings) and respect for the Culture's customs.{{sfn|Rumpala|2012}}

Nonetheless, Minds have their own interests in addition to what their peers expect them to do for the Culture, and may develop fascinations or hobbies like other sentient beings do.{{sfn|Blackmore|2010}}{{sfn|Rumpala|2012}}

The mental capabilities of Minds are described in ''Excession'' to be vast enough to run entire universe-simulations inside their own imaginations, exploring metamathical (a fictional branch of [[metamathematics]]) scenarios, an activity addictive enough to cause some Minds to totally withdraw from caring about our own physical reality into "Infinite Fun Space", their own, ironic and understated term for this sort of activity.
 
;{{vanchor|Ship Minds}}
One of the main activities of Ship Minds is the guidance of spaceships from a certain minimum size upwards. A culture spaceship ''is'' the Mind and vice versa; there are no different names for the two, and a spaceship without a Mind would be considered damaged or incomplete to the Culture.{{sfn|Westfahl|2006}}

[[Ship class|Ship Mind classes]] include General Systems Vehicle (GSV), Medium Systems Vehicle ({{abbr|MSV|Medium Systems Vehicle}}), Limited Systems Vehicle ({{abbr|LSV|Limited Systems Vehicle}}), General Contact Vehicle ({{abbr|GCV|General Contact Vehicle}}), General Contact Unit (GCU), Limited Contact Unit ({{abbr|LCU|Limited Contact Unit}}), Rapid Offensive Unit ({{abbr|ROU|Rapid Offensive Unit}}), General Offensive Unit ({{abbr|GOU|General Offensive Unit}}), Limited Offensive Unit ({{abbr|LOU|Limited Offensive Unit}}), Demilitarised ROU ({{abbr|dROU|Demilitarised Rapid Offensive Unit}}), Demilitarised GOU ({{abbr|dGOU|Demilitarised General Offensive Unit}}), Demilitarised LOU ({{abbr|dLOU|Demilitarised Limited Offensive Unit}}), Very Fast Picket ({{abbr|VFP|Very Fast Picket}}–synonym for dROU), Fast Picket ({{abbr|FP|Fast Picket}}–synonym for dGOU or dLOU), and Superlifter.

These ships provide a convenient 'body' for a Mind, which is too large and too important to be contained within smaller, more fragile shells. Following the 'body' analogy, it also provides the Mind with the capability of physical movement. As Minds are living beings with curiosity, emotion and wishes of their own, such mobility is likely very important to most.

Culture Minds (mostly also being ships) usually give themselves whimsical names, though these often hint at their function as well. Even the names of warships retain this humorous approach, though the implications are much darker.
 
;{{vanchor|Non-Ship Minds}}
Some Minds also take on functions which either preclude or discourage movement. These usually administer various types of Culture facilities:

* Orbital Hubs – A [[Orbital (The Culture)|Culture Orbital]] is a smaller version of a [[ringworld]], with large numbers of people living on the inside surface of them, in a planet-like environment.{{sfn|Westfahl|2006}}
* Rocks – Minds in charge of planetoid-like structures, built/accreted, mostly from the earliest times of the Culture before it moved into space-built orbitals.
* Stores – Minds of a quiet temperament run these asteroids, containing vast hangars, full of mothballed military ships or other equipment. Some 'Rocks' also act as 'Stores'.
* University Sages – Minds that run Culture universities / schools, a very important function as every Culture citizen has an extensive education and further learning is considered one of the most important reasons for life in the Culture.
 
;{{vanchor|Atypical Minds}}
* Eccentric – Culture Minds who have become "... a bit odd" (as compared to the very rational standards of other Culture Minds). Existing at the fringe of the Culture, they can be considered (and consider themselves) as somewhat, but not wholly part of the Culture.
* Sabbaticaler – Culture Minds who have decided to abdicate from their peer-pressure based duties in the Culture for a time.
* Ulterior – Minds of the Culture Ulterior, an umbrella term for all the no-longer-quite-Culture factions.
* Converts – Minds (or sentient computers) from other societies who have chosen to join the Culture.
* Absconder – Minds who have completely left the Culture, especially when in doing so having deserted some form of task.
* Deranged – A more extreme version of Eccentric as implied in The Hydrogen Sonata
 
;{{vanchor|Minds' names}}
Minds (and, as a consequence, Culture starships) usually bear names that do a little more than just identify them. The Minds themselves choose their own names, and thus they usually express something about a particular Mind's attitude, character or aims in their [[personal life]]. They range from funny to just plain cryptic. Some examples are:

* ''Sanctioned Parts List'' – a habitation / factory ship
* ''So Much For Subtlety'' – a habitation / factory ship
* ''All Through With This Niceness And Negotiation Stuff'' – a warship
* ''Attitude Adjuster'' – a warship
* ''Of Course I Still Love You'' – an ambassador ship
* ''Funny, It Worked Last Time...'' – an ambassador ship

===Names===
Some humanoid or drone Culture citizens have long names, often with seven or more words. Some of these words specify the citizen's origin (place of birth or manufacture), some an occupation, and some may denote specific philosophical or political alignments (chosen later in life by the citizen themselves), or make other similarly personal statements. An example would be Diziet Sma, whose full name is Rasd-Coduresa Diziet Embless Sma da' Marenhide:
* ''Rasd-Coduresa'' is the [[planetary system]] of her birth, and the specific object ([[planet]], orbital, [[Dyson sphere]], etc.). The ''-sa'' suffix is roughly equivalent to ''-er'' in English. By this convention, Earth humans would all be named ''[[Sun]]-[[Earth]]sa'' (or ''Sun-Earther'').
* ''Diziet'' is her given name. This is chosen by a parent, usually the mother.
* ''Embless'' is her chosen name. Most Culture citizens choose this when they reach adulthood (according to ''The Player of Games'' this is known as "completing one's name"). As with all conventions in the Culture, it may be broken or ignored: some change their chosen name during their lives, some never take one.
* ''Sma'' is her surname, usually taken from one's mother.
* ''da' Marenhide'' is the house or estate she was raised within, the ''da{{'}}'' or ''dam'' being similar to ''von'' in German. (The usual formation is ''dam''; ''da{{'}}'' is used in Sma's name because the house name begins with an M, eliding an awkward phoneme repetition.)
Iain Banks gave his own Culture name as "Sun-Earther Iain El-Bonko Banks of [[North Queensferry]]".{{sfn|Banks|1994}}

===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).