[api]

I've wondered before if one "great filter" might not be utopia. Species achieve a very pleasant steady state, adopt some form of epicurean philosophy, and then sit there until they fade away or something kills them.

The filter would be whether an intelligence, having achieved a very satisfying "utopian" local maximum, chooses "irrationally" to continue striving.

It's really not so irrational though if you understand what a local maximum is and the implications. But it might feel that way.

This is basically the plot and core idea of goethe's Faust. The deal he makes with the devil is that the devil will give him knowledge and power but can take his soul the moment he becomes content.