I put it to you that any civilization advanced enough to construct a Dyson sphere is also advanced enough not to leave mid-infrared signatures of their having done it for the rest of the Universe to observe.
@mcfate I would argue any civilization advanced enough to do this likely has never had any reason to fear others externally or internally. Advances like this can really only be made by civilizations with a strong sense of working together and agreement on common goals and ideas.
The concept of intentionally hiding one's presence out of fear of being found is evolutionarily a prey instinct, as well as a very human one. So, we would be projecting our own values and fears on said civilization.
Where will the advanced civilizations get the resources they need to expand their civilization?
@mcfate if we look at our own solar system, it's not as if the resources we need are solely on Earth. Our neighboring planets and asteroid fields have significant resources the likes of which our future generations will drool all over. We continue to find planets in other star systems that may be unable to foster life, but their natural resources of gases and minerals make them lucrative investments for any space-faring species.
You come back after you've worked out how much stuff you need to build a Dyson Sphere.
Your aliens will treat inconvenient life just like WE did.
@mcfate again, my position is that any civilization advanced enough to make it to that point would have to be well beyond a warring one. So advanced that they either have nothing to fear from other civilizations or so peaceful that the thought of taking sentient life to gather those resources has never come across their mind.
If anything, we would be less like an inconvenience to resource gathering and more of a protected species. More than resources, knowledge is covered.
@mcfate could be wishful thinking. I just don't really see the necessary efficiency and productivity required for such massive projects to come from a species just as divided by conflict and political turmoil as our own. It's like the whole AI or robot take-over scenario...what we see in movies always seems to cater to cinema audiences rather than cool and logical heads.
We could be advanced enough to be colonizing mars by now if it weren't for our own constant wars, politics and religion.
@lacuda
What actually backs up that assumption? It seems like not much more than wishful thinking to me.
Given the chance, species will proliferate endlessly. Resources are finite.
You're doing a lot of anthropomorphizing. "Protected species"? Why? "Protected" to what end? A zoo?