# What sci fi human state would you want to live in? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 22, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381 "2014-06-22T19:31:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/21 "2014-06-23T16:30:54Z")
Heinlein’s Starship Troopers world – book version, not movie version – would be my first choice. Something along the lines of Pipers “Fuzzy” series as a second choice. Trials where the degree of truth in a statement could be known has always fascinated me. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/22 "2014-06-23T17:22:03Z")
> [@IfItComesUp6](#): > > The Culture hands down, no question. Sign me up and let me start glanding. +7 or however many it is now ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/23 "2014-06-23T20:40:25Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Well, Vance’s Oikumene had a wide variety of venues, some that sounded wonderful, and others not so much. His “Thamber” planet sounded like lots of fun. Sarkovy, the planet of poisons and poisoners, I think I’d have to pass. Very true. But that’s part of the joy of the place: it’s hugely varied. You have the potential for extravagant adventures…and the potential to avoid them completely and sip Margaritas on Sailmaker Beach. (Or live on a houseboat and write mad poetry.) The alternate-history near-past/near-future of 2001: A Space Odyssey also might be a nice place to live. I’d love to be a researcher in the AI field! ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/24 "2014-06-23T20:47:06Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > +7 or however many it is now 8 or 9, when life is this good you don’t need to count anymore, these should be a mind taking care of that sort of thing. So long as I can live in the Culture, not just in the Culture universe, because everywhere outside the Cultures sphere of influence seamed to pretty much suck giant donkey balls. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/25 "2014-06-23T20:54:59Z")
Definitely NOT in the DC or Marvel universe where it seems everyday some supervillain is trying to destroy the world or fight a superhero. Even in Star Trek, while things like replicators would be cool, there is always the worry about giant space probes and alien cubes trying to destroy the Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/26 "2014-06-23T20:58:20Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Even in Star Trek, while things like replicators would be cool, there is always the worry about giant space probes and alien cubes trying to destroy the Earth. And transporter accidents and Holodeck safety protocol failures. Star Trek is possibly the least-reliably-safe, supposedly-safe universe. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/27 "2014-06-23T21:20:48Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > Admittedly stretching the definition of “sci fi”, I think I could be perfectly happy in [Lord Darcy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Darcy_%28character%29)’s Plantagenet Empire. While quite staid from our point of view (the technology and social structure are reminiscent of the Victorian era), it seems to be relatively peaceful and prosperous. One word: **Dentistry**. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/28 "2014-06-23T21:51:05Z")
Surprise! I would like to be living on Trantor founding the First and Second Foundations. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/29 "2014-06-23T22:44:07Z")
Tsk-tsk, Seldon. “Want to”? What… your psychohistory not working well enough for ya? Why don’t you tell us which one? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/30 "2014-06-23T22:53:03Z")
Jack McDevitt’s Alex Benedict’s universe seems very pleasant. I think I’d be a bit bummed there weren’t more intelligent alien species though. ---
**Author:** ![Commander\_Fortune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Commander\_Fortune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Fortune)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/31 "2014-06-23T22:59:57Z")
Arrakis, the desert planet, Dune ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/32 "2014-06-23T23:23:22Z")
> [@Aquadementia](#): > > Futurama. It would be fun on a bun. > Sure, it’s a future where all the idiots are preserved but you don’t have to be a supper smartypants to save the world from some blah-dee-da overly competent bad guys. This one, or give me a copy of the Guide and a towel and let me hitchhike my way around the galaxy. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/33 "2014-06-23T23:35:44Z")
> [@IfItComesUp6](#): > > The Culture hands down, no question. Sign me up and let me start glanding. Okay, sell me on this. The only Culture book I’ve read is [Consider Phlebas](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013TX6FI/ref=oh_d __o01_details_o01__ i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). I enjoyed it okay, but did not find it particularly compelling. It didn’t seem to be a very happy place to live. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/34 "2014-06-24T00:08:44Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Jack McDevitt’s Alex Benedict’s universe seems very pleasant. I think I’d be a bit bummed there weren’t more intelligent alien species though. Is this the same as the Priscilla Hutchins universe? The Engines of God, etc.? If not…what is the first book in the Alex Benedict series? (I’m rather fond of McDevitt. The Hutchins universe – Omega – is just a little too scary for me. And society and politics haven’t advanced there enough to keep up with technology. But, wow… “Omega” is just about the best “first contact” novel I’ve ever read.) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/35 "2014-06-24T01:41:22Z")
> [@Drum\_God](#): > > Okay, sell me on this. The only Culture book I’ve read is [Consider Phlebas](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013TX6FI/ref=oh_d __o01_details_o01__ i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). I enjoyed it okay, but did not find it particularly compelling. It didn’t seem to be a very happy place to live. _Consider Phelbas_ wasn’t about Culture citizens. Culture citizens have all of their material needs provided for (to a level that is quite opulent by our standards) without having to work, and they live as long as they want as healthy as they want. You can spend most or all of your time on leisure activities, making art, getting high, and getting laid. Their MMO virtual reality programs put any holodeck to shame. If none of that is fulfilling, you can join Contact, which is in large part a massive foreign aid corps that uplifts less advanced civilizations. Also, it’s possible to “sublime” to a higher plane of existence and become some sort of god-like energy being. ETA: Yes, I pick The Culture, too. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/36 "2014-06-24T03:30:33Z")
…And _another_ one for the Culture here… ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/37 "2014-06-24T03:46:59Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > ETA: Yes, I pick The Culture, too. Me too. +394 for the Culture. Interestingly, most of the Culture books aren’t much about the Culture and instead describe the interactions of Contact and/or Special Circumstances with the non-Culture universe. I think _Look to Windward_ maybe gives the best impression of what it’s like to live in the Culture and its primary internal hazard of insipid party conversations, and even that is only maybe a third of the book. _Excession_ gives some idea of what it might be like to be an AI ship mind in the Culture. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/38 "2014-06-24T04:01:51Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > …And _another_ one for the Culture here… I’m in. Where do I sign? ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/39 "2014-06-24T14:55:17Z")
As a fan of Lois McMaster Bujold’s “Vorkosiverse” – I like the idea of being a citizen of the Barrayaran Imperium, taking part in colonising that entity’s third and newest-annexed planet, Sergyar. Sergyar is a virgin, frontier world, scenically and biologically a bit like Earth, with strange and highly varied native fauna (something rather rare in Bujold’s universe). It attracts the adventurous, from the Imperium’s other two planets – Barrayar (the “parent” world), and Komarr. Things on Sergyar would be pleasantly “loose” and expansive; preferable for me, to the rather highly rigid and conventional, much-regulated, society of the former; and the unappealing environment of the latter – a physically toxic one, in which survival is possible only in hermetically-sealed “dome” settlements: attempted terraforming under way, but expected not to become viable for centuries. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381/40 "2014-06-24T15:38:54Z")
TNG Era Federation. Easy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sci-fi-human-state-would-you-want-to-live-in/691381.md?page=3)