For a civilization that accelerates, expansion is not glory – it’s self-sabotage. Flying away from your home star and its fast-evolving hive mind is a certain way to become an intellectual dinosaur.
Sounds convincing, but I can imagine other convincingly sounding stories.
The home star is ruled by an oppressive bureaucracy that favors stability over progress. Once the emperors become immortal, time is no longer an issue for them, but progress could change the balance of forces and possibly lead to a revolution. Therefore the emperors try to keep progress under control. Only a few lucky rebels succeed to grab some technology and fly away from the home star, hoping to develop something better in a distance. They keep flying away, because they know that the powers of emperors increase, albeit slowly; they do not want to be caught before they technologically surpass the empire.
Two (or more) countries at war agree that instead of mutual destruction, each of them will fly at high speed in a different direction, and find a new place to colonize that will be entirely theirs without a war.
Sounds convincing, but I can imagine other convincingly sounding stories.
The home star is ruled by an oppressive bureaucracy that favors stability over progress. Once the emperors become immortal, time is no longer an issue for them, but progress could change the balance of forces and possibly lead to a revolution. Therefore the emperors try to keep progress under control. Only a few lucky rebels succeed to grab some technology and fly away from the home star, hoping to develop something better in a distance. They keep flying away, because they know that the powers of emperors increase, albeit slowly; they do not want to be caught before they technologically surpass the empire.
Two (or more) countries at war agree that instead of mutual destruction, each of them will fly at high speed in a different direction, and find a new place to colonize that will be entirely theirs without a war.