Words&Dirt

“‘Look into that bastard’s mind.’

‘I can’t do that, Ziller.’

‘Why not?’

‘It is one of the very few more-or-less unbreakable rules of the Culture.  Nearly a law.  If we had laws, it would be one of the first on the statute book.’

‘Only more-or-less unbreakable?’

‘It is done very, very rarely, and the result tends to be ostracism.  There was a ship called the Grey Area, once.  It used to do that sort of thing.  It became known as the Meatfucker as a result.  When you look up the catalogues that’s the name it’s listed under, with its original, chosen name as a footnote.  To be denied your self-designated name is a unique insult in the Culture, Ziller.  The vessel disappeared some time ago.  Probably it killed itself, arguably as a result of the shame attached to such behaviour and resulting disrespect.’

‘All it is is looking inside an animal brain.’

‘That’s just it.  It is so easy, and it would mean so little, really.  That is why the not-doing of it is probably the most profound manner in which we honour our biological progenitors.  This prohibition is a mark of our respect.  And so I cannot do it.'”

––Look to Windward, by Iain M. Banks, pg. 249

“If anyone believes that the best way to prevent natural disasters is to live a better life, he appears to be in error.”

––Philosophy as a Humanistic Discipline, by Bernard Williams, pg. 13