I think it’s a lot more likely that an expanding civilization will want to conceal themselves after they have surrounded any given point, with that point being far away from their frontier of expansion. Because that’s precisely when such advanced civilizations will gain the most simply from being as resilient as possible to the threat of other expanding entities. By contrast the frontier will see intense competition to simply expand into unpopulated space as fast as they can, so hiding is unlikely to be a priority. Even if their expansion might be checked by some hostile entity, this is not a big deal in expectation; it might just be what those farther back from the frontier were waiting for, a chance to try again and leap-frog the earlier colonists.
I think it’s a lot more likely that an expanding civilization will want to conceal themselves after they have surrounded any given point, with that point being far away from their frontier of expansion. Because that’s precisely when such advanced civilizations will gain the most simply from being as resilient as possible to the threat of other expanding entities. By contrast the frontier will see intense competition to simply expand into unpopulated space as fast as they can, so hiding is unlikely to be a priority. Even if their expansion might be checked by some hostile entity, this is not a big deal in expectation; it might just be what those farther back from the frontier were waiting for, a chance to try again and leap-frog the earlier colonists.
? I don’t understand. Once they’re surrounded us, they can take their time and eliminate humans in an unnoticeable fashion.