"Peter F. Hamilton - A Night's Dawn Companion - The Confederation Handbook" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Peter F)

twenty-five. Further children are gestated inside exowombs. Large families are the
norm for Edenist couples. EdenistsтАЩ children are given considerable physical freedom
from an early age. Communal affinity ensures they are never out of contact with their
parents, and a habitat interior is an entirely safe environment for a child to roam
through, since the habitat personality monitors them (as it does everybody) on a
twenty-four-hour basis. Should a child get into difficulty, servitors can be directed to
assist immediately.

Edenist sexual mores are a constant source of amusement, speculation, and envy for
the Adamists. As they are immune to most diseases, and traits such as (classical)
ugliness, obesity, and congenital deformities have been removed from the primary
Edenist gene pool, and as communal affinity precludes excessive jealousy or
possessiveness, Edenist adolescents lead highly active sex lives. Group sex is
common, although this does not replace or prevent normal pairing and love bonding.
Most Edenists settle down into a long-term relationship, with compatibility enhanced
by affinity. Adamist mythology casts Edenist females in the role of an easy lay, which
often leads to considerable friction on a personal level.


Education
Education is received entirely from the habitat via affinity, and is essentially
equivalent to the didactic laser imprints of the Adamists, consisting of large chunks of
memory/data absorbed by the brain during sleep periods. This procedure is in many
ways more advanced than laser didactic imprinting, since the habitat can quiz an
individual directly, and very accurately determine which sections of the education
memory have been successfully absorbed, then repeat the missing sections until full
understanding of a subject is reached. In this fashion, talent and aptitude can be
developed to maximum potential, be it in arts or science.

Morals or behavioral traits are also included in this education process. ThatтАЩs an
aspect which Adamists object to strongly, claiming it is little more than ideological
conditioning. It does mean that crime in Edenist habitats is almost unheard of.
Edenists do not take drugs (including tobacco), although they will drink alcohol (their
liver and kidneys eradicate the worst aspects of a hangover), but rarely to excess once
they reach maturity, nor do they use sensevise stims. Sexual activity is the EdenistsтАЩ
preferred method of obtaining a high.


Culture
Despite their indoctrination, education, and apparent conformity (to outside eyes) to
their own culture, Edenists are highly individualistic. They can, and frequently do,
disagree with each other, though this takes the form of тАЬagree to disagreeтАЭ rather than
any kind of hateful confrontation or political wrangling. Normal (sic) human traits
remain present, giving their society the usual artistic-practical divisions. Edenists are
by no means equal, though they claim to have no social strata. The habitatsтАЩ
ubiquitous bitek servitors contribute greatly to this situation, by eliminating mundane
physical labor. There is no working class in an Edenist habitat, or poverty either.


Religion