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PHYSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
colonized billions of star systems and can exploit the power
of the black hole at the center of their galaxy. They freely
roam the space lanes of the galaxy.
Rardashev estimated that any civilization growing at a modest rate
of a few percent per year in energy consumption will progress rapidly
from one type to the next, within a matter of a few thousand years to
tens of thousands of years.
As I've discussed in my previous books, our own civilization qualifies a Type 0 civilization (i.e., we use dead plants, oil and coal, to fuel
our machines). We utilize only a tiny fraction of the sun's energy that
falls on our planet. But already we can see the beginnings of a Type I
civilization emerging on the Earth. The Internet is the beginning of a
Type I telephone system connecting the entire planet. The beginning of
a Type I economy can be seen in the rise of the European Union, which
in turn was created to compete with NAFTA. English is already the
number one second language on the Earth and the language of science, finance, and business. I imagine it may become the Type I language spoken by virtually everyone. Local cultures and customs will
continue to thrive in thousands of varieties on the Earth, but superimposed on this mosaic of peoples will be a planetary culture, perhaps
dominated by youth culture and commercialism.
The transition between one civilization and the next is far from
guaranteed. The most dangerous transition, for example, may be between a Type 0 and a Type I civilization. A Type 0 civilization is still
wracked with the sectarianism, fundamentalism, and racism that typified its rise, and it is not clear whether or not these tribal and religious
passions will overwhelm the transition. (Perhaps one reason that we
don't see Type I civilizations in the galaxy is because they never made
the transition, i.e., they self-destructed. One day, as we visit other star
systems, we may find the remains of civilizations that killed themselves in one way or another, e.g., their atmospheres became radioactive or too hot to sustain life.)
By the time a civilization has reached Type III status it has the energy and know-how to travel freely throughout the galaxy and even
PHYSICS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE
colonized billions of star systems and can exploit the power
of the black hole at the center of their galaxy. They freely
roam the space lanes of the galaxy.
Rardashev estimated that any civilization growing at a modest rate
of a few percent per year in energy consumption will progress rapidly
from one type to the next, within a matter of a few thousand years to
tens of thousands of years.
As I've discussed in my previous books, our own civilization qualifies a Type 0 civilization (i.e., we use dead plants, oil and coal, to fuel
our machines). We utilize only a tiny fraction of the sun's energy that
falls on our planet. But already we can see the beginnings of a Type I
civilization emerging on the Earth. The Internet is the beginning of a
Type I telephone system connecting the entire planet. The beginning of
a Type I economy can be seen in the rise of the European Union, which
in turn was created to compete with NAFTA. English is already the
number one second language on the Earth and the language of science, finance, and business. I imagine it may become the Type I language spoken by virtually everyone. Local cultures and customs will
continue to thrive in thousands of varieties on the Earth, but superimposed on this mosaic of peoples will be a planetary culture, perhaps
dominated by youth culture and commercialism.
The transition between one civilization and the next is far from
guaranteed. The most dangerous transition, for example, may be between a Type 0 and a Type I civilization. A Type 0 civilization is still
wracked with the sectarianism, fundamentalism, and racism that typified its rise, and it is not clear whether or not these tribal and religious
passions will overwhelm the transition. (Perhaps one reason that we
don't see Type I civilizations in the galaxy is because they never made
the transition, i.e., they self-destructed. One day, as we visit other star
systems, we may find the remains of civilizations that killed themselves in one way or another, e.g., their atmospheres became radioactive or too hot to sustain life.)
By the time a civilization has reached Type III status it has the energy and know-how to travel freely throughout the galaxy and even