  It is argued that the "generic" evolutionary pathway of advanced
technological civilizations are more likely to be optimization-driven than
expansion-driven, in contrast to the prevailing opinions and attitudes in both
future studies on one side and astrobiology/SETI studies on the other. Two
toy-models of postbiological evolution of advanced technological civilizations
are considered and several arguments supporting the optimization-driven,
spatially compact model are briefly discussed. In addition, it is pointed out
that there is a subtle contradiction in most of the tech-optimist and
transhumanist accounts of future human/alien civilizations' motivations in its
postbiological stages. This may have important ramifications for both practical
SETI projects and the future (of humanity) studies.

Astrophysics