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. – Iain Banks
A lot of what the Culture is about is a reaction to all the science fiction I was reading in my very early teens. – Iain Banks
Technology determines the possibilities of society. It doesnt matter whether you start out from a fascist state or a communist state or a free-market state. – Iain Banks
I think a lot of people are frightened of technology and frightened of change, and the way to deal with something youre frightened of is to make fun of it. Thats why science fiction fans are dismissed as geeks and nerds. – Iain Banks