THE KARDASHEV SCALE
What is "The Kardashev Scale"?
When thinking about other civilization in our universe and what they might be like, we have to come up with a conceptual framework that can enable us to understand them better. Based on the limited sample of our own civilization, we may want to assume that any civilization in the universe would naturally want to consume resources to grow and expand to ensure their survival.
Since the same laws of physics would apply to all civilizations in the universe, we can reasonably assume a standard of measurement in terms of energy use. In 1964, Russian astrophysicist, Nikolai Kardashev figured that civilization can be categorized by the total amount of energy available to them. He called it The Kardashev Scale.
Initially, he came up with 3 civilization types; type 1, type 2 and type 3. However other astronomers have recently extended the scale from type 0 all the way to type 6 as new theories in modern physics have emerged. Some people have gone as far as to categorize a type 7 and beyond.
When the Kardashev scale first proposed, Carl Sagon , an American astronomer and astrophysicist derived a formula to calculate any given civilizations Kardashev ranking in terms of its power or energy use over time.
It is due to this fact that the Kardashev scale is continuous in nature, so a civilization can in fact be any value in between the given types. So, let’s examine these different types of civilizations and some of the thing they can accomplish.
Type 0 Civilization
A Type 0 civilization is able to harness a limited amount of energy of its home planet. So, this would include anything from primitive life forms to hunter-gatherer societies. We humans are currently about 0.75 on the Kardashev scale according to Carl Sagon’s formula. Moreover, physicist Mchio Kaku estimates that it may take another 100-200 years or so for us to get type 1 status. Of course, this all depends on how fast our technology advances and how fast our civilization grows. But now we remain between type 0 and type 1 civilization.
Type 1 Civilization
A type 1 civilization sometimes known as the planetary civilization has the capacity to harness all the energy of its home planet. It can utilize all the energy that reaches the planet, like solar and all the energy the planet can produce, like thermal, wind, hydro and more. If we ever reach type 1. We would be capable of controlling the entire earth to its maximum capacity. We will influence the weather, control volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, influence global flora and fauna, change the geological makeup of our planet and a lot more. Nikolai Kardashev described type 1civilization as having “technological level close to the level presently attained on earth”. So, humanity is very close to becoming a type 1 civilization. We’re just not there yet.
Type 2 Civilization
The next step from type 1 is a Type 2 civilization that can harness the total energy output of its entire star and we are not just talking about transforming starlight into energy. We are talking complete control of the star. Several methods for this have been proposed. But one of the most famous ones is to build a megastructure around the star called the Dyson sphere. This idea was first proposed by a physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson in 1960. The Dyson sphere would completely enclose a star and capture all of its energy, then be able to transfer the energy for use by the home planet. A type 2 civilization would not just build these megastructures, but also live in them and completely control what goes on inside them. Furthermore, a type 2 civilization would also be able to control the orbit of all the planets in that system alongside their rotation and position. Harvesting asteroids and comets would also be a common culture for this type civilization. So basically a type 2 civilization can manipulate and consume all the energy of its entire solar system. So, when will humanity reach type 2 status? Well, currently its estimated that humanity will reach type 2 in about 1000-2000 years. That’s of course if we make it to type 1 first.
Type 3 Civilization
A type 3 civilization is a galactic civilization that is capable of harnessing the energy of its entire galaxy. This type of civilization would span the entire galaxy colonizing and controlling numerous star systems. It would be able to harness, store and use the energy output of all star within that galaxy. Such a civilization would be able to move planets and stars from one solar system to another. It could even merge solar systems or starts together, absorb supernovae and even create new stars. At this stage there would also be colonies of robots that are capable of self-replication colonizing star after star. They might also build Dyson spheres to encapsulate each star in the galaxy creating a huge network that would carry energy back to its home planet. Not only will this civilization be able to harness energy from stars, it will also be able to harness energy from black holes, even setting up colonies near them. It is estimated that humans might reach type 3 100,000 to 1,000,000 years assuming we can survive long enough without destroying ourselves.
Type 4 Civilization
A type 4 civilization would be capable of harnessing its energy of the entire universe. This civilization would be able to travel throughout the universe and consume the energy output of several and possibly all galaxies. It would be capable of manipulating space-time itself granting it access to things that we only see in science fiction. It may even control entropy, possibly becoming immortal. Moreover, A type 4 civilization would have tapped into energy sources unknown to us using strange, of currently unknown laws of physics. They would also have mastered both dark matter and dark energy at this stage. This would allow them to open wormholes, live inside black holes and perform many other feats that would be almost impossible for us to even imagine. Such a civilization would be undetectable since its actions would be indistinguishable from natural process.
Type 5 Civilization
A type 5 civilization would be a multiverse culture that is capable of harnessing the energy of multiple universes. This type of civilization would know all there is to know, every single time line in every single universe. It would span countless parallel universes, being able to manipulate the very structure of reality.
Now if you thought type 5 civilization was impressive.
Type 6 Civilization
A type 6 civilization would have to exist outside of space-time and reality as we know it. It would be capable of creating and destroying entire universes or multiverses at will. At this point, its not even clear if these civilizations would need to have any individuals combined into one being. This civilization would be indistinguishable from concept of a deity.
Now there might be other higher types of civilizations out there but type 6, it seems would be the limit of our imagination. How ever some people have pushed it past type 6 and have extended it to type 7.
Type 7 Civilization
So, what is type 7 then? Well, according to some; a type 7 would have complete control over the omniverse. Now the concept of the omniverse is that it contains pretty much anything and everything that you can think of. Any number of multiverses, universes, dimensions and everything that you can ever think of is contained within the omniverse. So, a type 7 civilization would pretty much be able to control the omniverse which is infinite in nature and it never ends. So, for now this is the limit of the human imagination. But the scale could definitely go higher and higher, depending on what types of theories emerge next.
And this bring us to the end of this article, until then we’ll see you in next one.
