# The End of The Culture (Iain Banks Thread)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-culture-iain-banks-thread/670529>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 6, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-culture-iain-banks-thread/670529 "2013-10-06T21:10:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-culture-iain-banks-thread/670529/21 "2014-01-20T13:05:59Z")

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> [@wevets](#):
>
> Not in the sense of Earth/Revelations apocalypse, but in the sense that the civilization within that solar system has experienced a number of devastating wars, some of which apparently left vast tracts of the planet uninhabited (possibly uninhabitable?) and wiped out enough of the people/institutions that various technologies and histories were lost.
> 
> I’m not an astronomer, but it seems plausible to me that stars could be expelled from galaxies, and since we seem to be finding lots of exoplanets, there is a likelihood that such expelled stars would have planetary systems.

Interesting, thanks.

> [@Baron\_Greenback](#):
>
> Missed this thread at the time.
> 
> There are some hints in Excession that given access to a very, very young Universe, you can manipulate the settings, so to speak, as you see fit. Perhaps the entities that are migrating via the Excession are going to a groovy designer Universe. A physical implementation of some crazy Infinite Fun Space concept? The Sublimed are still confined to our rather mundane Universe, after all.

Thats an interesting thought, I did wonder what could be better than Subliming which seems to be pretty much depicted as as much of a Heaven that would be possible in the Culture universe.

> [@Evil\_Captor](#):
>
> I think the notion of the Culture hanging on forever because of its anarchic nature has a lot to recommend it. It does not strike me that all of the Culture will ever be ready to Sublime at once. Their do-gooding with less advanced cultures ensures that there will always be chain of cultures going from primitive to Culture members, as the more advanced Culture members Sublime.

I really like that idea!

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