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August 04, 2008

Cultured

Flea-fav, Iain Banks responds to a reader question: What might be the most important development for humanity to evolve into a Culture-like civilization? His reply disappoints.

Genetically modifying ourselves, I suspect. Finding the set of genes that code for xenophobia in general - these days usually expressed though sexism, racism, homophobia, anti-semitism, Islamophobia, Romaphobia and so on (and on, and on) - and knocking them out. Possibly then we'll be nice enough for the Culture or something like it. Of course maybe inventing true AIs will be enough, always assuming that they're as benign - and yet sympathetically interested in us - as they are taken to be in the Culture.

Sadly, Banks appears not to have read his own books, the first of which finds the anarcho-liberal technopia of the Culture confronted by a conquering, racialist theocracy and having to confront its own easy pacifist hypocrisies as a result. My "islamophobia" is not based in a genetic predisposition toward creating in-groups and out-groups, it is grounded in my upbringing and history. These specifically mitigate against xenophobia or an irrational dislike of customs or beliefs different to mine. My culture is radically ecumenical, open to exploration of the world and new ideas and grounded in personal liberty of conscience. It is directly at odds with any shared human genetic predisposition toward vilifying - God help me for using this expression - the Other. You might as well accuse me of "Naziphobia".

Contrary to what Banks thinks he means by his list, my hostility toward Islam - my "islamophobia" - is grounded in my understanding of Islamic scripture and the example provided by all polities I am aware of that have been governed by recourse to Islamic law. My objections are to sexism, racism, homophobia and antisemitism; all -isms whose criticism used to be advanced by the left and have now been abandoned out of cynicism, naked political opportunism and at the first sign of the big bad wolf. My objection is not to some hypothetical Methodist Islam, it is to totalitarianism and clerical fascism. That and the assorted maniacs trying to kill me and mine.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at August 4, 2008 03:24 AM

Comments

Happy midsummer, Flea. Or should I be addressing you as Ghost, now that we have a better understanding of Blake's thinking?

You can put me down for venomous snakebite phobia and ionizing radiation phobia too. And let's not forget anvil-dropping-on-my-head phobia. I could go on. Most of these pacifist chowderheads have chosen to hate themselves, lacking the strength to hate evil. We'll always have to deal with that. In the case at hand, Banks, fashionably, uses scifi escapism to avoid the dilemma.

Far more intelligent celebs have ripped that cord. Sadly, nobody ever taught them that we live in the best of all possible worlds. Lacking that philosophical calculus, how could they not ponder a utopian life based on changing one or two minor elements of Nature?

Posted by: HelenW [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 4, 2008 07:03 PM

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