>>11061482You accrue savings so that you can secure a prosperous future for your progeny. You save money to send them to college, cover unexpected medical expenses, get them piano lessons, etc.
The whole idea of a advanced galaxy spanning civilizations posits that these aliens are expanding their civilization to secure a prosperous future for their progeny. It's the only reason for expansion.
But what if if you learned every child you will ever have, even if you adopt, will die before they graduate highschool? Would you still save for their college?
Likewise, would you save for retirement if you knew that you were going to die young?
The only aliens that could even attempt to create a galaxy spanning civilization would be able to think and exist on extreme timescales. I think they'd see almost no point in mass expansion because of the futility of it all.
I don't think they'd kill themselves. I think that they'd realize that if nothing matters, they should focus on what matters to them. They'd devote themselves to art, they'd alter the landscapes of their worlds to be as beautiful as possible. They would live in the moment.
I think truly advanced alien civilizations are like those buddhist monks that make intricate artwork from colored sand knowing the artwork is temporary. I think they're probably like the Nox from Stargate. Immensely powerful, immensely sophisticated, yet prefer to live as some kind of space hippy.
