[MHGinTN]

There is an interesting underlying assumption in one of your earlier posts regarding the 'cost' to build an interstellar ship and the 'cultural implications' of losing touch with a significant amount of your parent civilization. We have several types of life forms here and in the insect kingdom, the cost is a 'whole hive' experience. Would a civilization arising from a hive mentality have the same cost-benefit reasoning as we mammals? It is not outlandish to propose an intelligent life form from some other niche in our own galaxy that arose to technical civilization along a very different path than ours, and such a civilization may actually ignore cost-benefit ratios in favor of pure exploration, for instance.

[Physicist]

such a civilization may actually ignore cost-benefit ratios in favor of pure exploration, for instance.

All the alien psychology in the world doesn't make them immune to the laws of economics. They can't squeeze more out of labor and resources than is there. And then, the overhead--what they need to survive--is large and invariant. They can push the limits of their resources, certainly, but that will take away from other things a civilization might want or need to do, and so reduce their long-term prospects for survival.

[yendu bwam]

It is not outlandish to propose an intelligent life form from some other niche in our own galaxy that arose to technical civilization along a very different path than ours, and such a civilization may actually ignore cost-benefit ratios in favor of pure exploration, for instance.

It's certainly reasonable to assume that other civilizations may not see space exploration through the same set of lenses we do. We should always be prepared for the unexpected. Unforunately, we are not even prepared for what we think we expect.

[RadioAstronomer]

There still is the problem of the energy/resource requirement to fund, build and power such a craft. Not to mention the sustainability of a complex construct such as a "generations ship". You can only carry so many spare parts or raw material to replace worn out machinery. What happens if your perfectly tuned ecosystem evolves in a way that it is no longer viable?