eburacum45:
Yes, I have, and they have influenced me greatly. Highly recommended. According to Banks’ mythos, Culture inhabitants have generally adapted humanoid forms, despite having almost complete freedom of physical form. I know it is only fiction sprung from Mr Banks’ imagination, but is it likely? Perhaps there is a factor that might make morphological conservatism dominant, in a civilisation with complete freedom of shape.
I think that sexual attraction may be one factor that limits the otherwise unbounded freedom imagined for such a utopia. Sexual selection acts on the evolution of species in the wild, steering the development of various characteristics towards apparently desirable goals. If the human psyche is attracted towards particular body-plans, then those types might tend to predominate, even if we had complete morphological freedom.
Maybe certain physical traits would become exaggerated from time to time, but that would be more akin to the vagaries of fashion than the long, slow changes due to natural evolution.
Ah that’s good to hear! And I admit morphological freedom as you put it is a kind of dream of mine, how wonderful would it be if we could choose whatever body we liked?
Excellent, thank you!