When I read Look To Windward, my favorite parts were were Masaq' Hub describing its life:

It reminded me of this monologue in BSG, where John Cavil laments being limited to a human form: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VhqsFRTTTo&t=1s

What he wants is something more like a Culture Mind's senses than a human's. Did the writers on that scene read Look to Windward?