“Technology determines the possibilities of society. It doesn't matter whether you start out from a fascist state or a communist state or a free-market state.”
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Science fiction is trying to find alternative ways of looking at realities.
I think a lot of people are frightened of technology and frightened of change, and the way to deal with something you're frightened of is to make fun of it. That's why science fiction fans are dismissed as geeks and nerds.
Torture is such a slippery slope as soon as you allow a society or any legal system to do that, almost instantly you get a situation where people are being tortured for very trivial reasons.
A lot of what the 'Culture' is about is a reaction to all the science fiction I was reading in my very early teens.