What If Humanity live in a reverse kardashev scale?
The Soviet Union, 1950s. At the Department of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow University,
young Nikolai Kardashev is about to graduate in astronomy.
His main interest is astrophysics and the theoretical potential of wormholes,
but he is also fascinated by the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
It was around this time that Frank Drake launched Project Ozma - a pioneering
attempt to locate alien civilizations by scanning the sky for radio emissions.
Accordingly, Kardashev began to wonder if a good number of alien civilizations might be millions of
years ahead of us, and if so, what their radio signatures might be like. Just how "loud," he
surmised, could alien transmissions truly get? This prompted Kardashev to write his seminal
1963 paper, "Transmission of Information by Extraterrestrial Civilizations."
In it, he proposed a simple numbering system — from one to three — that could be used to classify
hypothetical alien civilizations according to the amount of energy at their disposal.
More specifically, he wanted to quantify the power available to them for their radio transmissions.
Today, Kardashev's scale has been expanded and re-interpreted to include more than
just the capacity for communications technology. Astrobiologists and cosmologists now use the
scale to simply describe the amount of energy available to an alien civilization for any kind
of purpose. As a result, the scale is often used to speculate about the kinds of technologies and
existential modalities that characterize advanced civilizations. And not only in the macrocosm but
even in the realm of the incredibly small... Here's how it works!
In his paper, Kardashev wrote that a Type I civilization would be at a "technological level
close to the level presently attained on the Earth".
A Type I is typically associated with a hypothetical civilization
that has harnessed all the power available to it on its home planet.
A civilization on a planetary scale able to control earthquakes,
climate and even volcanic eruptions... and that will have exploited every inch of space,
building cities even above and below the oceans. For a civilization to attain Type I status,
therefore, it needs to capture all of the solar energy that reaches the planet,
and all the other forms of energy it produces as well, like thermal, hydro, wind, ocean, and so on.
More radically, Type I status would only truly be achieved once the entire planet is
physically reconfigured to maximize its energy-producing potential.
For example, the entire mass of a planet could be reconstituted to take
the form of a massive solar array to energize a civilization's power-hungry machinery.
Quite obviously, we are not a Type I civilization….But,
where does our own civilization sit on this scale? Kardashev initially proposed that
humanity was close to a Type I, but subsequent reclassifications have taken a more self-critical
view. Carl Sagan’s modified Kardashev scale, which allows for continuous values, put
humanity at a meager 0.7. Some predict that our total power consumption could hit Type I levels
in around 200 years, but we are still incredibly far from realizing Type II or III status.
Once we get to Type 1, what’s next? We are likely to leave Earth, looking to draw
energy from other planets. If we can become an interplanetary civilization that can make
use of the total energy potential of a star, we’d become a type 2 civilization.
Type 2 is instead a civilization that achieved mastery of their entire solar system
including their very star for a staggering total
of 10^26 watts available, about ten billion times the energy available to a type 1.
One way to harness the energy of a star is to build a megastructure around it called the
Dyson Sphere. It would completely enclose a star and capture all of its energy, then be able to
transfer the energy for use by the home planet. Of course, this kind of contraption would dwarf the
Death Star of the Star Wars universe, requiring amazing technology to build, and could take
different forms. The initial idea by the physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson in 1960 was that
such a structure would cover an area 600 million times greater than the surface area of the Earth.
Understandably, the Dyson Sphere has become a staple in the search for extraterrestrial life.
If you can spot a Dyson Sphere out in space, aliens should be not far behind...
But... How close are we to becoming the type 2 megastructure builders?
It’s a big jump in capabilities and would probably take 1000-2000 years to reach.
earning the title of ‘stellar civilization’. A civilization with this amount of energy at
their disposal would be capable of easily crafting megastructural habitats within their solar system,
allowing them to be independent of planets and even reach out to other star systems with ease
since propelling vessels to relativistic speeds would become trivial. Reaching
other star systems they’d be able to repeat the process again slowly transitioning to type 3.
Type 3-Is a civilization that achieved mastery of their entire galaxy for a grand total of
10^36 watts available, ten billion times the energy of type 2 and ten billion times
ten billions the energy available to a type 1, earning the title of ‘galactic civilization’.
Probably taking 100,000 years or longer to get there. Humans would probably be
long since gone by that point, becoming some kind of post-biological cybernetic beings.
It is difficult to say what civilization of this level would be capable of but feats such as star
engines, star lifting, star ignition, construction of entire solar systems, and even intergalactic
travel come to mind… and you have to get a whole galaxy’s worth of energy to get this advanced. We
are talking about a world where robots build Dyson Spheres at will all over the galaxy, utilizing
some yet-inconceivable space propulsion technology to move around. Perhaps, such a civilization would
also be able to get energy from black holes or create energy-producing stars at will.
Beyond type 3 there are other, more esoteric levels, going from 4 to 7, which are subjects of
debate given that they’d often require a knowledge of the universe that is beyond our current
understanding and hinges on a few assumptions, making their very feasibility dubious. One could
say that here is where the magic happens. Type 4 - An intergalactic civilization.
A civilization that managed to reach nearby galaxies and harness their energy.
Type 5 - A universal civilization. A civilization that managed to reach all the
galaxies within their universal event horizon (aka the observable universe) and harness their energy.
Type 6 - A multiversal civilization. A civilization that managed to tap
into other universes besides its own. Hinging on the possibility that there is a multiverse.
Type 7 - A transcendent civilization. A civilization that achieved a level
that is far beyond our understanding, by combining all realities it accessed into one
achieving a god-like status and all related abilities. Hinging on the possibility that a
complete understanding of the universe is possible and that it can be so thoroughly manipulated.
While the Kardashev scale offers considerable food for thought,
it is not without its problems. First and foremost, and stating the obvious,
no empirical evidence exists indicating the presence of K2 or K3 civilizations
in our galaxy and/or galactic neighborhood. In fact, the Fermi Paradox — what's been
dubbed "The Great Silence" — would indicate that civilizations never become migratory,
thus making a Type III very unlikely. If Kardashev civilizations exist, we should expect to see large
swaths of neighboring galaxies "disappear" from the visual spectrum — yet we do not...
and we haven't found any Dyson spheres, either. Although that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
Another problem with the Kardashev Scale is the assumption that advanced civilizations have
an insatiable appetite for energy and that they inevitably want to expand into space.
When perhaps, turning a galaxy into a huge supercomputer is
the last thing an advanced civilization would want to do...
At the end of the day, what do we know? Alien intelligence may have other
desires... and goals that don't involve this kind of intergalactic imperialism.
It must have been similar reasoning that brought cosmologist John Barrow - unfortunately, passed
away in 2020, as did Kardashev himself, died in 2019 - came up with his own alternative system;
the scale of micro-dimensional mastery, or the micro-scale. Barrow’s inversion of the Kardashev
Scale proposes that it’s how well a civilization can control small things, like atoms and quarks,
that really counts. Rather than how well it controls large things like stars and galaxies.
For Barrow, the more you can master the minuscule, the more advanced you can become. Barrow’s scale
features a Kardashev-like ranking system, only it moves the other way, getting smaller and
smaller as the levels increase. And humans are already a reasonable distance along with it.
A Type One-minus is any civilization with the ability to use observable,
raw materials in construction, which covers a range of things
that humans can already do - from building a house to baking a cake.
A Type Two-minus is capable of manipulating the cells and organs of the body,
as well as genes - which humans can also already do through gene-editing technology.
Type Three-minus is where we begin to reach our current limit, though, because humans lie
somewhere between here and Type Four-minus, without quite fitting into either category.
Type Three-minus manipulates molecules to create new ones, which we can already do to a certain
extent through chemical engineering- including the creation of plastics and synthetic polymers.
But we haven’t yet mastered this as thoroughly as we have the previous levels,
and our synthesized materials still leave a lot to be desired.
Meanwhile, the hallmark of a Type Four-minus is the full mastery of atoms and nanotechnology.
Again, we have made some progress here, for better or worse. And take just a cursory glance
at any twenty-first-century tech news outlet, and you’ll see that nanotech is widely pitched as the
next big thing for humankind. But we’ve still a long way to go until we totally understand it.
Barrow’s scale then extends to Types Five and Six-minus… before reaching
its micro-pinnacle with Type Omega-minus, which is the ability to manipulate spacetime itself.
An Omega civilization would have the very fabric of reality under its spell.
But suffice to say, humanity is nowhere near this just yet. For now, we’re all
too busy getting to grips with types Three and Four; with the mastery of molecules and atoms.
But what should our civilization be like to be defined as Type IV-minus?
As mentioned, nanotechnology is the primary goal if humanity
ever wants to call itself Type Four-minus. There are now thousands of nanotech products
available - including nanoparticles designed to improve cosmetics, antibacterial cleaners,
clothing, fuel and to provide an edge with sports equipment. But this is first-generation
nanotechnology, and we expect far greater things in the future. And to wield far greater control.
If humanity was Type Four-minus, then it would probably have at its disposal
a machine called a molecular assembler. This is a theoretical device, most championed by the US
engineer Kim Eric Drexler, which would allow its user to specifically move and place individual
atoms - to precisely form brand new molecules and kick start controlled chemical reactions.
With a molecular assembler, life would be like a jigsaw puzzle made up of
infinite pieces and guided by our hands. Strength reinforcement would be
top of the list of things we’d hope to achieve with it.
The idea is that we could make all existing products stronger, faster,
better, and less likely to go wrong or depreciate. As an example, imagine reorganizing the atoms in
graphite to engineer a diamond. The value of diamond would probably go down, but
only because so many more things would be made of this famously robust ingredient.
Nanotechnology could give us greater control over our own bodies, too. The prospect of
medicinal nanobots has made the headlines time and again in recent years. The theory is that these
invisible machines will be able to enter into a person’s body for precise medical treatment.
They could target cancerous cells and destroy them without the need for chemotherapy or invasive
surgery. They could be used to improve the strength and function of our bones and muscles.
Or, if modeled after red blood cells, could be used to deliver oxygen all around the body.
For a Type Four-minus being, nanomedicines are designed to increase longevity and
quality of life. So, is there a downside to all of this technological improvement?
Well, some worry that for all the problems it solves, nanotech could create new ones, as well.
Unfortunately, lots of nanoparticles - including those found in cosmetics - double up as
pollutants. They may be unseen, but they can clog up our world… which is why environmental agencies
want more research done into them, and greater regulation.
Were a Type Four-minus society to take off in a big way, then it would need to first know
that the tech driving its progress wasn’t going to have long-lasting negative effects - or
else it could wind up destroying itself. And, according to one particular theory,
that there is no over-exaggeration. The “gray goo catastrophe” is a doomsday scenario like no other.
First proposed, again, by Drexler, it’s a potential apocalypse
where humans lose control of nanotechnology, particularly if it becomes self-replicating,
leaving the tiny machines to ruthlessly devour everything in their path. Eventually,
Earth - and potentially the entire universe - is transformed into a homogeneous mass. The gray goo.
The good news is that most scientists who work with nanobots insist that
this isn’t what’s going to happen. Clearly, at our current level,
we still have a lot to learn. But there’s also an all-new world on the horizon.
And that’s what would happen if humanity was a Type Four-minus civilization.
What do you think? Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments!