realpolitik still apply, especially that concerning the peculiar of dialectic of dissent which—simply stated—dictates that in all but the most dedicatedly repressive hegemonies, if in a sizable population there are one hundred rebels, all of whom are then rounded up and killed, the number of rebels present at the end of the day is not zero, and not even one hundred, but two hundred or three hundred or more; an equation based on human nature which seem often to baffle the military and political mind." - Meaning and context.">
QuotesCosmos
“A Few Notes on the Culture” (pp. 168-169)
“

All the usual rules of uprising realpolitik still apply, especially that concerning the peculiar of dialectic of dissent which—simply stated—dictates that in all but the most dedicatedly repressive hegemonies, if in a sizable population there are one hundred rebels, all of whom are then rounded up and killed, the number of rebels present at the end of the day is not zero, and not even one hundred, but two hundred or three hundred or more; an equation based on human nature which seem often to baffle the military and political mind.

— Iain Banks

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "All the usual rules of uprising realpolitik still apply, especially that concerning the peculiar of dialectic of dissent which—simply stated—dictates that in all but the most dedicatedly repressive hegemonies, if in a sizable population there are one hundred rebels, all of whom are then rounded up and killed, the number of rebels present at the end of the day is not zero, and not even one hundred, but two hundred or three hundred or more; an equation based on human nature which seem often to baffle the military and political mind." in the context of "“A Few Notes on the Culture” (pp. 168-169)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Iain Banks" (Quotes, Short fiction, The State of the Art (1991): All page numbers from the trade paperback edition published by Night Shade Books (ISBN 978-1-59780-074-7) Only A Gift from the Culture, Descendant and State of the Art are set in the world of his Culture series For details on the original publication of each story, see the Wikipedia page All ellipses in the original stories ) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

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#Iain Banks#hundred#rebels#stateddictates#realpolitik#whichsimply#dedicatedly#especially#concerning#repressive#hegemonies#population
Iain Banks

About Iain Banks

Iain Menzies Banks (February 16, 1954 – June 9, 2013), officially Iain Banks, was a Scottish writer. As Iain M. Banks he wrote science fiction; as Iain Banks he wrote literary fiction.