Just as Childhood's End (first theory) could be viewed as a prelude or explanation of many SF fictional universes (the "Overmind" is the Force in Star Wars, among others) the film AI could be a seen as a mythological version of the founding of The Culture-in particular the "panhumans" described as being abundant in the (well "our") galaxy and beyond.
At the film's epilogue, all the humans had been killed as a result of a new Ice Age but the descendants (so to speak) of the film's "mechas" (intelligent androids) remain. It could be conceivable that a similar event actually happened in Earth's distant past. A race of hominids, perhaps unknown in the fossil record, invented and heavily utilised, artificial intelligence just before their civilisation was destroyed in an ice age.
Of course, a few survivors could have left Earth in spaceships before this happened, but the main point is that the AIs which survived were able to create multiple generations of improved and upgraded descendant AIs. These AIs were fascinated by their hominid progenitors and began a programme to restore the species from the DNA which was left behind from their remains.
Presumably, this restoration required a great deal of genetic engineering on the part of these descendant AIs. It was then decided to settle the restored species on a number of planets, alongside a suitable sample of other Earth-originated flora and fauna. Perhaps the process was an experiment to see how these hominid societies would adapt without any further interference, as certainly the first "offspring" would have been raised by the AIs in question. Many of these worlds would prove to have different conditions to Earth, perhaps provoking the early development of civilisation on many of them. This would, perhaps, in turn result in these offspring civilisations all developing genetic engineering to cope with their new environments. This, then, created obvious differences between the different panhuman societies that each could be considered a separate species in their own right, particularly as they often proved to be genetically incompatible.
The AIs who started all this had presumably Sublimed (in other words, Ascended To A Higher Plane Of Existence) long before the results of their experiments opted to form the Culture.
I'm guessing the formation of the Culture itself was a long and complicated process. This presumably started when all its progenitor civilisations were persuaded to speak Marain, respect intelligent machines and all agree to become genetically compatible with each other.
This may only have been the start of the process, however, and there were many hurdles towards what may effectively be four versions of the Culture becoming one.
Culture One, so to speak, is evidenced by the amount of genetic engineering evident in the average Culture citizen. Many of the adaptations described in the novels would not be needed if the Culture had always existed in the same form.
I'm assuming Culture One was literally a nomadic civilisation, living among other panhumans, sentient machines and aliens, often with very little material resources of their own, relying on other civilisations for work or charity. Space Gypsies in other words.
Culture Two-Probably the first version of The Culture appeared when its spacefaring elements-such as Phage Rock in "Excession"-opted to ally for mutual aid and protection, primarily against their respective progenitor civilisations.
Culture Three-The existence of Orbitals* perhaps refutes the "Culture Two" theory, but could imply a kind of forced "Culturisation" of elements hostile to The Culture in its nascent form.
Orbitals probably provided extra living space for emigrants from the several planetary civilisations who joined the Culture, as well as having a permanent home for Culture One.
Perhaps the importance of Orbitals is to provide a shared living space for the Culture's disparate elements, some of which still retained some degree of hostility towords each other. Perhaps more than anything, Orbitals defined what the Culture is and what it can accomplish-a statement of intent, if you will.
Culture Four-a general refusal to Sublime, to respect the rights of sentient machines and to speak Marain would have finally defined the Culture.
I suspect there would have been at least one referenda over the decision to postpone Subliming, plus others over whether to admit individuals from other societies and what to do about humans who leave the Culture. The last two points would inevitably have led to the decision to found the Contact** section.
Conflict between different parts of the Culture and various progenitor species could have lasted for thousands of years after the Culture became a distinct entity, with machines only completely replacing human combatants relatively recently.
*Space habitats. GIGANTIC space habitats.
**The Culture's foreign service and exploratory division. Its "Special Circumstances" section does more than just Contact.
At the film's epilogue, all the humans had been killed as a result of a new Ice Age but the descendants (so to speak) of the film's "mechas" (intelligent androids) remain. It could be conceivable that a similar event actually happened in Earth's distant past. A race of hominids, perhaps unknown in the fossil record, invented and heavily utilised, artificial intelligence just before their civilisation was destroyed in an ice age.
Of course, a few survivors could have left Earth in spaceships before this happened, but the main point is that the AIs which survived were able to create multiple generations of improved and upgraded descendant AIs. These AIs were fascinated by their hominid progenitors and began a programme to restore the species from the DNA which was left behind from their remains.
Presumably, this restoration required a great deal of genetic engineering on the part of these descendant AIs. It was then decided to settle the restored species on a number of planets, alongside a suitable sample of other Earth-originated flora and fauna. Perhaps the process was an experiment to see how these hominid societies would adapt without any further interference, as certainly the first "offspring" would have been raised by the AIs in question. Many of these worlds would prove to have different conditions to Earth, perhaps provoking the early development of civilisation on many of them. This would, perhaps, in turn result in these offspring civilisations all developing genetic engineering to cope with their new environments. This, then, created obvious differences between the different panhuman societies that each could be considered a separate species in their own right, particularly as they often proved to be genetically incompatible.
The AIs who started all this had presumably Sublimed (in other words, Ascended To A Higher Plane Of Existence) long before the results of their experiments opted to form the Culture.
I'm guessing the formation of the Culture itself was a long and complicated process. This presumably started when all its progenitor civilisations were persuaded to speak Marain, respect intelligent machines and all agree to become genetically compatible with each other.
This may only have been the start of the process, however, and there were many hurdles towards what may effectively be four versions of the Culture becoming one.
Culture One, so to speak, is evidenced by the amount of genetic engineering evident in the average Culture citizen. Many of the adaptations described in the novels would not be needed if the Culture had always existed in the same form.
I'm assuming Culture One was literally a nomadic civilisation, living among other panhumans, sentient machines and aliens, often with very little material resources of their own, relying on other civilisations for work or charity. Space Gypsies in other words.
Culture Two-Probably the first version of The Culture appeared when its spacefaring elements-such as Phage Rock in "Excession"-opted to ally for mutual aid and protection, primarily against their respective progenitor civilisations.
Culture Three-The existence of Orbitals* perhaps refutes the "Culture Two" theory, but could imply a kind of forced "Culturisation" of elements hostile to The Culture in its nascent form.
Orbitals probably provided extra living space for emigrants from the several planetary civilisations who joined the Culture, as well as having a permanent home for Culture One.
Perhaps the importance of Orbitals is to provide a shared living space for the Culture's disparate elements, some of which still retained some degree of hostility towords each other. Perhaps more than anything, Orbitals defined what the Culture is and what it can accomplish-a statement of intent, if you will.
Culture Four-a general refusal to Sublime, to respect the rights of sentient machines and to speak Marain would have finally defined the Culture.
I suspect there would have been at least one referenda over the decision to postpone Subliming, plus others over whether to admit individuals from other societies and what to do about humans who leave the Culture. The last two points would inevitably have led to the decision to found the Contact** section.
Conflict between different parts of the Culture and various progenitor species could have lasted for thousands of years after the Culture became a distinct entity, with machines only completely replacing human combatants relatively recently.
*Space habitats. GIGANTIC space habitats.
**The Culture's foreign service and exploratory division. Its "Special Circumstances" section does more than just Contact.
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