Yes, I have thoughts on this matter.
Sometimes, you don't need social pressures to go Out. Fen run on memes, and the exploration of the greater unknown galaxy is a huge memeplex amongst the Fen. But while most just settle for talking about it, there are those that take it to heart, and go do as the Fen do.You also have the "settling frontier" meme that can be traced back to the early Wild West of America: I like my space, my neighbors are too close, time to go find a different solar system. People don't always do things because there's pressure to do so - they do it because they can (most of the stated social issues that lead to people doing colonization across America weren't as bad as they made them out to be; but people love their justified excuses).
And thanks for giving me a character idea who can have a good exploration arc: a lone nutter of a hermit with a bunch of barely sapient AIs and a ship that can manufacture nav/comm buoys. They don't care that they're all alone - that's why they're here, looking at the various views of the universe.
Or another possibility: a Buddhist group that believes that Nirvana can be achieved by meditating on the states of reality. In exchange for a monastery ship (with the above manufacturing capability), they just have to survey systems and leave nav buoys around.
But one thing remains: most of the stories of the Fen are not large, grand scale, space opera adventures. They're people, focusing on the relationships they have with each other and themselves. And we find our pleasures in the small details, devilish people we are. We can look at a big picture and go "that's a cool idea", but what sells us are the things that many advertisers use to sell things to us: what do people, people that we can identify with, do and think about this situation they're living in?
Sometimes, you don't need social pressures to go Out. Fen run on memes, and the exploration of the greater unknown galaxy is a huge memeplex amongst the Fen. But while most just settle for talking about it, there are those that take it to heart, and go do as the Fen do.You also have the "settling frontier" meme that can be traced back to the early Wild West of America: I like my space, my neighbors are too close, time to go find a different solar system. People don't always do things because there's pressure to do so - they do it because they can (most of the stated social issues that lead to people doing colonization across America weren't as bad as they made them out to be; but people love their justified excuses).
And thanks for giving me a character idea who can have a good exploration arc: a lone nutter of a hermit with a bunch of barely sapient AIs and a ship that can manufacture nav/comm buoys. They don't care that they're all alone - that's why they're here, looking at the various views of the universe.
Or another possibility: a Buddhist group that believes that Nirvana can be achieved by meditating on the states of reality. In exchange for a monastery ship (with the above manufacturing capability), they just have to survey systems and leave nav buoys around.
But one thing remains: most of the stories of the Fen are not large, grand scale, space opera adventures. They're people, focusing on the relationships they have with each other and themselves. And we find our pleasures in the small details, devilish people we are. We can look at a big picture and go "that's a cool idea", but what sells us are the things that many advertisers use to sell things to us: what do people, people that we can identify with, do and think about this situation they're living in?