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| parent_permlink | science |
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| author | sauravrungta |
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| permlink | the-kardashev-scale-how-far-can-humanity-really-advance |
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| title | "The Kardashev Scale: How Far Can Humanity Really Advance?" |
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| body | "<html>
<p>From chimpanzees to our current status, we have made a lot of progress over the millions of years that we have been on this planet. From mere animals roaming around in forests to the modern homo sapiens roaming around in concrete jungles, we have come a long way and there is a longer way to go still. In fact we are only just getting started.</p>
<p>It is often said that technology advances exponentially and it is quite true. If we look back at how much we have advanced just over the past 200 years compared to the past 2000 years, it becomes clear that our progression is logarithmic. This bodes well for us as it promises the future we all have in mind to come sooner rather than later.</p>
<p><img src="https://s15.postimg.org/d3njqofij/dyson.jpg" width="1192" height="671"/></p>
<p><a href="http://www.veronicasicoe.com/blog/2014/04/the-kardashev-scale-0-to-6/">Image Credits</a></p>
<p>But what is this future everybody keeps talking about? How does it look like and when will we reach it? What will our capabilities be? Fortunately we have a scale, called the Kardashev Scale to answer some of these questions. It lays down the future pathway of humanity and the milestones we’ll cross along the way.</p>
<h1>The Kardashev Scale</h1>
<p>The Kardashev Scale was proposed by the Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev, 1964. Basically this hypothetical scale provides a method of measuring a civilisation’s level of technological advancement based on the amount of energy the civilisation is able to generate or manipulate.</p>
<p><img src="https://s15.postimg.org/hcy756i6z/kardashev_1024x730.png" width="988" height="693"/></p>
<p><a href="https://astrobites.org/2016/03/15/classifying-civilisations-an-introduction-to-the-kardashev-scale/">Image Credits</a></p>
<p>In my opinion this is a very interesting and apt way of gauging the level a civilisation is at in terms of its technological prowess. It is obvious that as technology progresses, mankind’s demand for energy increases too and since technology advances at an exponential rate, so does the energy demand. </p>
<p>The Kardashev Scale proposes 3 types of civilisations depending on their energy use and you’ll be shocked to know that we are not even in the list. Let’s look at the 3 types of civilisations.</p>
<h1>Type I</h1>
<p>The Type I civilisation is also called a planetary civilisation. Basically this civilisation would be able to harness all the solar energy it receives from it’s neighbouring star (the sun in our case). The energy consumption of this type of civilisation would be a staggering 10^16 watts.</p>
<p>That is a huge number but certainly attainable in the coming centuries. In fact, one of the most influential physicists Michio Kaku, believes that we humans could attain this capability in 100-200 years. It is not too far fetched as it may seem at first glance. Just look at our rate of advancement for the past 2000 years and it starts looking like a doable thing!</p>
<h1>Type II</h1>
<p>A Type II civilisation, also called a Stellar Civilisation would be far more advanced than the Type I. Such a civilisation would be able to harness all the energy their sun can produce. I’m not talking about the solar energy that comes off of the sun but the entire sun itself! That would amount to about 10^26 watts of energy.</p>
<p>Now, you might be thinking how this could be possible even in the remote future. To be able to achieve this, several methods have been proposed. Of these, the Dyson Sphere is the most popular. A Dyson Sphere encompasses the entire sun, gathering all of its energy and transferring it to the home planet of the civilisation.</p>
<p><img src="https://s21.postimg.org/tv5xenq3b/Karashev_Type_2.jpg" width="628" height="390"/></p>
<p><a href="http://futurism.com/the-kardashev-scale-type-i-ii-iii-iv-v-civilization/">Image Credits</a></p>
<p>Achieving this stage of technological advancement would be an assurance for the civilisation that they would probably exist for a million years more as nothing known in science could wipe out such a highly advanced civilisation (except for a nearby supernova explosion).</p>
<p>We humans are nowhere near to achieving this feat and experts say that we will need thousands of years to be able to advance to such heights (assuming of course that we don’t wipe ourselves out before then).</p>
<h1>Type III</h1>
<p>Things start to get very interesting from here on. A Type III civilisation (also known as a galactic civilisation) would be so highly advanced that nothing in the known science could wipe them off, not even a supernova explosion. Their energy requirement will be 10 billion times that of Type II civilisation.</p>
<p>This type of civilisation would be easily able to colonise the galaxy itself, extracting energy from any star that comes in their path. They will have built self-replicating robots that would be sent to the distant parts of the galaxy, spreading like a virus taking over a healthy body.</p>
<p>If you are having trouble visualising such a civilisation, let me make it easier. They would most probably resemble the Empire from Star Wars movies. Impressed yet?</p>
<p>A study in 2015 came to the conclusion that Type III civilisations are either very rare or do not exist at all in the local Universe.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Kardashev didn’t go beyond Type III on his scale as he thought that a Type IV civilisations would be just too advanced and it wouldn’t be realistically possible for anyone to achieve such a stature. But experts have extended this scale to include 2 more types. (The scale is hypothetical anyways, so why not?)</p>
<h1>Type IV</h1>
<p>A Type IV (Universal Civilisation) on the scale would literally be the masters of this universe. They will have, at their disposal, the entire energy that our universe has to offer. Something that we can’t even visualise right now with our tiny monkey brains!</p>
<p>This type would have access to such forces and energy that we haven’t even thought about yet and perhaps won’t even begin thinking until we reach Type II ourselves!</p>
<p>They would be so advanced that they might even have the power to play with the laws of physics at some point, attempting projects like changing the structure of space-time. Technology would have finally created truly immortal beings.</p>
<h1>Type V</h1>
<p>What could be better than immortal beings, you might ask. Well, think just one step further. You might have guessed it. It’s achieving god status. This is completely hypothetical and personally I don’t think any civilisation (if they existed) has been able to achieve this status ever in the history of the multiverse.</p>
<p><img src="https://s22.postimg.org/eyemwkkyp/sirians_e1434713460484.jpg" width="450" height="232"/></p>
<p><a href="http://locklip.com/the-6-alien-species-currently-fighting-for-control-over-earth/">Image Credits</a></p>
<p>This type of civilisation would be a multiverse one, meaning that will have transcended their universe of origin. At this point, it is beyond even science fiction, but super cool nonetheless. They will be able to jump from one universe to any of the infinite number of universes that are proposed by scientists.</p>
<p>Such a civilisation would literally be a god-level one and house unimaginable power and ability. They would be beyond the laws of physics of any given universe. They would live like tourists travelling the universe of their choice.</p>
<h1>So, What About Us?</h1>
<p>As I mentioned earlier, we are not even on the scale right now. To be very precise, it could be said that we are a Type 0.73 civilisation meaning that we are very close to a Type I. Reading what you have just read, it might have made you feel just how backwards we are in terms of what is possible to be achieved.</p>
<p>Even if we consider Type IV & V to be far too unlikely, we could still aim for a Type III civilisation which would render us 99% immortal. That would ensure that humanity could go on and on forever conquering one galaxy after the other.</p>
<p><br></p>
<hr>
<p>Follow me @sauravrungta. I post everyday :)</p>
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| 1. | | voter | sauravrungta |
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| author | sauravrungta |
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| permlink | the-kardashev-scale-how-far-can-humanity-really-advance |
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| weight | 10,000 |
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