Culture

Cultures throughout civilization are all but infinitely diverse; a single city or space station may be the origin of many different societies. Across an inhabited star system the variety of cultures can be immense, as each location in space is isolated with its own challenges. Language, accents, customs, economies, pastimes, entertainment, and trends are variable across space as well as time, ever-changing with the natural flow of human life.

Harsh Environments

Terrestrial worlds are a common target for colonization, as they can provide comfortable open spaces naturally shielded against spaceborne hazards. These worlds are not often habitable by unmodified humans, requiring inhabitants to adapt themselves to it for the fullest experience, else they be confined to regulated habitats. These adaptations may be superficial such as a breathing apparatus or light exosuit, but in more extreme cases are invasively biological, involving the alteration of a person’s biochemistry or replacing some or all of their external body with artificial components. Such adaptations may be significant enough that the individual loses the ability to safely inhabit a Home-like environment.

Such modifications are not unique to terrestrial worlds, with artificial bodyplans commonplace among some spaceborne cultures. Full-body cyborgs contain all of their natural human organs within an artificial shell, allowing them the freedom to work and live in zero-gravity and vacuum with limited health impacts. Their oxygen and water, still required by essential organs, can be stored and regulated internally.

However, such extensive modifications have been found to impart negative psychological effects on those heavily modified, prompting many societies to forgo such alterations in favor of less logistically-efficient but far more natural lifestyles. Tailored upbringings and early-age alterations have been found capable of reducing or negating these psychological effects in later life, but such measures are deemed unethical by a large part of civilization.

Read more: Biotechnology

Education

Education is often augmented by simulated intelligences, allowing for personalized education tailored to a specific individual. Some societies will embrace or dissuade different forms of mind-training (referred to as indoctrination by detractors) from a young age. Personality traits can be educated for or against, even enhanced through neural integration technology, to impart particular values into or out of society. Innate human greed is commonly cited by advocates of such mind-training, and people throughout various societies have greed suppressed and empathy promoted during their children’s development as it is claimed to create more effective and efficient communal societies. Again, these actions are deemed unethical by no small number of other societies.

Cohesion

There persists in all people an innate tribal sense of attachment and belonging to wherever they call home. With diversity of culture and lifestyle an inevitable outcome of life throughout space, there is often a strong sense of unity amongst individuals who inhabit the same niche, whether it be ten aboard an orbital facility or ten billion inhabiting the same planet.

Neural interfaces can also be used to enhance social experiences, allowing an individual to accommodate effective relationships with a larger number of people and assist the individual throughout everyday life. Simulated intelligences an also be used to enhance social experiences, coordinating gatherings between like-minded people or finding new topics of interest for an individual. The Uninet allows distant communities to stay connected, while virtual reality plays a role in all aspects of life from industrial work to entertainment.