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I agree there isn't much benefit to a civilization of creating a colony too far away to be able to effectively communicate with (apart from the philosophical be
by hermitcrab 6y ago
I agree there isn't much benefit to a civilization of creating a colony too far away to be able to effectively communicate with (apart from the philosophical benefits of 'not putting all your eggs in one basket'). The isolation might be very attractive to some colonists though. Just as the pilgrim fathers sailed to america to escape religious persecution and start a new society. Whether a group smaller than a state or civilization would have enough resources to do this is another matter.
- qayxc 6y agoInteresting point; I didn't consider that. A civilisation with advanced enough technology and (by our standards) infinite amounts of time and resources could indeed have groups of individuals seeking exactly that. Still a far cry from founding galactic empires, but a reasonable motivation that I haven't really considered thus far. Such reasons for expanding outwards would, however, match our observations (or specifically lack thereof) perfectly: groups that seek isolation or refuge from their parent civilisation likely wouldn't bother broadcasting their existence to everyone or build easily detectable solar system-scale mega-projects like Dyson Swarms.