It might feel more like time travel than space travel.
There was also an point in that episode since the FTL method they used was tethered to massive objects and hence only allowed for travel from on star system to another (or from one galaxy to another) the old fashioned non FTL method allowed them to explore many more things than with FTL travel the downside that 10,000's years would pass for everyone else every time they take a trip.
Poorer people leaving later get better and faster transit.
The only advantage of leaving early is the guarantee of getting a transit, instead of waiting for a better one to arrive later and find you got nothing at all.
After about 10 thousand years of hearing the beacon and being alone we finally get restless and just build a couple thousand giant spaceships and join the rest of the universe in the most cosmopolitan place ever.
Do we need a theory on this yet? I mean... out of all the planets we've explored reasonably thoroughly so far, 100% have had life at some point.
Intelligence might not even bet he end goal of evolution even life is very common, intelligence might not be.
Douglas Adams' books have been a major fixture of my life since I was 12. He really was ahead of his time. Actually I don't think said time he was metaphorically ahead of has come yet :)