[kingcharles]

No stake, but what if a civilization just doesn't care any more? For instance, we all download our consciousness into the Singularity and our every wish is fulfilled. Why bother doing anything else as long as you have enough solar power hitting your planet's surface for whatever you are currently doing?

[goatlover]

This assumes everyone in the civilization would want to do that, including any AIs. We don't have an example for history or contemporary society where this is true. Not everyone wants to immerse themselves in digital entertainment, despite the proliferation of it. People engage in a wide range of activities, some of them which require deprivations and real danger, like climbing mountains. It would be odd if nobody from a civilization retained an interest in exploring space, with the possibility of finding something truly alien.

[tomrod]

Ennui seems motivating.