> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://cafebedouin.gitbook.io/potm/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://cafebedouin.gitbook.io/potm/section-2-the-cost-and-architecture-of-formation/2-the-mullahs-fixed-cup/interlude-the-elench.md).

# Interlude: The Elench

“The Elench wanted to alter themselves, not others; they sought out the undiscovered not to change it but to be changed by it. The Elencher ideal was that somebody from a more stable society — the Culture itself was a perfect example — could meet some Elencher —  Rock, ship, drone or human —  on successive occasions and never encounter the same entity twice. They would have changed between meetings just because in the interim they had encountered some other civilization and incorporated some different technology into their bodies or information into their minds. It was a search for the sort of pan-relevant truth that the Culture’s monosophical approach was likely ever to throw up; it was a vocation, a mission, a calling.”

*—Iain M. Banks, “Excession”*