My main crux regarding inter-civ selection effect is how fast will space colonization get. F.e. if it’s possible to produce small black holes, you can use them for an incredibly efficient propulsion and even just slightly grabby civs still spread at approximately the speed of light—roughly the same speed as extremely grabby civs. Maybe it’s also possible with fusion propulsion but I’m not sure—you’d need to ask astro nerds.
values aligned with a (potentially discoverable?) moral truth will be more competitive than those that are the most grabbing-prone
I guess the main hope is not that morality gives you a competitive edge (that’s unlikely) but rather that enough agents stumble on it anyway, f.e. realizing open/empty individualism is true, through philosophical reflection.
agents with values that might a priori seem less grabbing-prone could still prioritize colonizing space, as a first step, to not fall behind in the race against other agents (aliens or other agents within their civilization), and actually optimize for their values later, such that there is little selection effect
Yeah, I definitely expect that.
(The links you sent are broken)