[semi-extrinsic]

I've been mulling this over: given the constraints of information travelling at lightspeed and physical objects travelling at a lot less, what if it simply doesn't make financial sense for any actor in a market economy to colonize the galaxy?

What if the ROI of space colonization even at multi-decade or multi-century timescales is negative? Then why would anyone do it?

[ncmncm]

Market economy is far from a law of nature. Even most human activity is cannot be understood as market driven.

[kochikame]

There doesn't have to be an economic motive

What if they just feel like exploring, and gaining knowledge, and seeing things no one else has ever seen?

[semi-extrinsic]

Well, they'd still have to be able to pay for everything they need to go off on that voyage.