The speed and power of computers has been
doubling every one to two years since the 1960s and 70s. And now artificial intelligence, combined
with that computing power, could be poised to solve some of technology's biggest barriers. But scientists now say humanity is at a critical
crossroads, and the path we choose in the next century will shape the course of our
civilization for generations to come. Will humanity one day reach the highest level
of technological advancement allowing us to become
an interplanetary species with the
ability to colonize entire galaxies? Or will our own technology doom us? Stay tuned to find out. [LOGO] In 1964, Soviet scientist Nikolai Kardashev
put forward a groundbreaking theory, proposing that all civilizations, regardless of the
race or culture of their inhabitants, require energy to sustain themselves. As societies grow and develop, their energy
needs increase exponentially, driven by factors such as population growth, rising living standards,
and tech
nological advancements. To measure the level of energy consumption,
Kardashev devised three levels of civilizations, but other scientists have since suggested
4 more levels. Each type of civilization is distinguished
by their level of energy consumption and technologies they use. Now let's take a look at each of the seven
types. [Type 0 civilization] A Type 0 civilization uses almost all of the
natural resources on their planet to obtain energy, launching into space using rockets
fueled by chemi
cal energy. That's where we are right now. This is because a Type I civilization consumes
a minimum of 10^16 watts of energy, and we currently consume about 10^13 watts of energy. This puts us at about 0.73 on the scale. According to American theoretical physicist
and futurist, Michio Kaku, it is estimated that humanity will be capable of consuming
energy on a scale comparable to that of a Type I civilization within the next 100-300
years. But to cross this line, we have to get through
the Great
Filter first, a phenomenon that wipes out civilizations long before they can
encounter each other. The theory behind the idea that each extraterrestrial
civilization ultimately faces some barrier to its own survival came from economist Robin
Hanson. This Great Filter can be anything from nuclear
warfare, pandemics, artificial intelligence, planet killing asteroids, or even climate
change. If we make it past whatever the ‘Great Filter’
will be for us, only then will we be able to advance to the
next civilization type. [Type 1 civilization] Civilization Type 1 is also known as a planetary
civilization. When we finally reach this stage of evolution,
we will be able to establish control over all energy resources available on Earth. This means that us humans will need to fully
utilize all the solar radiation that reaches our planet. The Earth absorbs about 71% of the energy
that the Sun radiates. And each hour 430 quintillion Joules of energy
from the sun hits the Earth. The total amount o
f energy that all humans
use in a year is around 410 quintillion Joules. That said, if we were able to harness all
of this energy at once, we would be able to power everything with just the Sun. Wind along with hydroelectric energy would
add even more resources for developing technologies. When it comes to harnessing the power of a
star, it will be nuclear fusion that creates a huge breakthrough in clean and reliable
energy. But the old stuff certainly needs to go first. Our current nuclear powe
r plants run on fuel
that undergoes nuclear fission, has a low energy conversion coefficient, leaves behind
radioactive waste, and carries a high risk of accidents. Nuclear fusion on the other hand will provide
a safe and almost unlimited source of clean energy without radioactive waste. By creating engines that can be powered by
nuclear fusion, we will be able to send manned spacecraft to any planet in the solar system. Life on Earth could become more comfortable,
climate change could be averte
d, and it’s possible that, in the future, we could build
entire cities underwater. Advancements in medicine will ultimately defeat
cancer and other incurable diseases, thus significantly elevating the longevity of human
life. However, the future holds even greater promise
for the next evolutionary level. [Type 2 civilization] A Type 2 Civilization, also known as a Stellar
civilization, harnesses and consumes a staggering 10^26 watts of energy. Scientists think humanity stands a chance
of breachi
ng this limit in about 3200 years. Once we get there, it will enable us to tap
into the Sun's boundless energy reserves. There are multiple ways we could do this,
with the most notable being the hypothetical Dyson Sphere - a colossal megastructure with
a surface area millions of times larger than Earth's, capable of capturing and transmitting
the star's entire energy output. Alternatively, a star can be encompassed by
a cluster of satellites and space habitats. This method of energy harvesting i
s sometimes
referred to as a "Dyson Swarm." The swarm would consist of a large number
of individual solar collectors or panels, which could be positioned at different distances
and orientations around the star to maximize energy capture. The energy collected by the swarm could then
be transmitted wirelessly to a central location for storage or use by the civilization. As humanity ushers in the age of anti-gravity
engines, it will unlock new opportunities for extended space travel, and the coloni
zation
of the Solar System. With advancements in medical technology, astronauts
will no longer have to worry about the toll that extended space missions have on their
health, as tissue regeneration and significantly prolonged life expectancy become a reality. However, as our civilization continues to
grow and evolve, it's only a matter of time before the limits of the Solar System become
constraining, leading us to explore further and push the boundaries of our technology. [Type 3 civilization]
According to Kardashev's calculations, reaching
Type 3, or Galactic Civilization may take up to 5800 years. At this level, we will have harnessed the
energy from stars throughout the galaxy, and even collected photons from the accretion
disks of black holes. With an astonishing 10^36 watts of energy
at our disposal, we will potentially have the power to travel almost instantaneously
across the Milky Way using the mysterious phenomena of wormholes. To further expand our horizons, we will create
a
dvanced races of robots and cyborgs, and explore new frontiers beyond our wildest imagination. We will also probably come closer to the concept
of immortality as the human lifespan increases to maximum potential. While this level of development may represent
the upper limit of any civilization, some scholars have gone beyond Kardashev's theory
and proposed models for civilizations of Types 4 to 7. [Type 4 civilization] A Type 4 civilization would achieve the ultimate
breakthrough in our understa
nding of the universe, harnessing its incomprehensible energy potential
of 10^46 watts. Their mastery over the power of supernovae,
which explode every 50 years in a galaxy like the Milky Way, will grant them access to vast
amounts of energy. And with the addition of dark energy, they
will unlock the key to traversing the distant corners of the cosmos, possibly even settling
within supermassive black holes. Yet, this is merely the beginning of humanity's
awe-inspiring journey. As humans of the f
uture delve deeper into
the mysteries of physics and energy, they will be able to manipulate entire galaxies,
extinguish stars, and form entirely new planetary systems. There are hypotheses such a civilization will
achieve the ultimate feat of immortality by transferring their consciousness into digital
realms. With such immense power at their disposal,
these beings will rewrite the laws of nature as we know them. But as they push the limits of scientific
knowledge, they will also discover that
the universe is far more vast and complex than
they ever imagined. Perhaps, they will even discover there’s
a multiverse of universes out there. [Type 5 civilization] If multiverses turn out to be their new reality,
civilization of Type 5 will conquer these worlds, harnessing an almost inexhaustible
source of energy along their journey. And hypothetical white holes, which are considered
the opposite side of black holes, could be the key to achieving this. Meanwhile, science will actively delve i
nto
the study of higher dimensions, unlocking secrets and possibilities that were once thought
to be fiction. [Type 6 civilization] According to scientific theories, a type 6
civilization would become multidimensional. If humans were to enter the fourth dimension,
which is a hypothetical spatial dimension beyond the three dimensions of length, width,
and height, our physical bodies wouldn’t be able to exist or function in this realm. Scientists think that the physical laws and
properties of obje
cts would behave differently in the fourth dimension, making it incompatible
with our three-dimensional bodies. But for our descendants, who have risen to
type 6 civilization, this may not be a problem. Theoretically, they could learn to preserve
their consciousness as pure energy that can be transferred from one dimension to another. The only obstacle could be energy resources
needed to make such a transition. But maybe a type 6 civilization will be able
to extract energy from white holes acros
s multiverses. Although purely hypothetical, whoever inhabits
this new reality would move beyond the speed of light, travel back and forth in time, and
overcome cause-and-effect limitations. After hearing all this, you might think there
is no further level to advance to, but there may be another tier, the utmost peak of civilization's
progression. [Type 7 civilization] A type 7 Civilization would consist of the
creators of all laws of nature, matter, energy, space, time, and dimensions. We canno
t imagine what life in a civilization
of the seventh type would look like, or if such a civilization can even hypothetically
exist. In this unfathomable universe, completely
different physical laws would reign. Even if we were to gain access to them, we
would never understand them. In theory, it would take us 10 duodecillion
[10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000] years to become a civilization of this type. Another idea is that we will never reach the
seventh level because it’s
not a community of beings, but rather existence itself. We wouldn’t even notice if such a civilization
existed in the first place. Contemplating the possibility of extraterrestrial
intelligence is a captivating subject. However, the search for evidence of such advanced
civilizations is quite a challenge. Looking for civilizations of the lower levels
on the Kardashev scale would be a more realistic pursuit. The theory of different types of civilizations
provides clues for the search, particularl
y on exoplanets with conditions suitable for
life. According to NASA, there are potentially 300
million such worlds in our galaxy, although we have only studied about 55 of them so far. Advanced telescopes like the James Webb Space
Telescope are not just looking for signs of biological life, but also for signs of technological
activity. Astronomers believe that with the modern equipment
we have today, they would have already detected signs of a Type 1 civilization if it existed
in the regions of
space we’ve already studied. In this case, extraterrestrials would be traveling
through space at speeds that would make their ships noticeable. A Type 2 civilization is also unlikely to
remain completely invisible to us. In order to gather energy, it would need to
surround stars with Dyson spheres. If a Dyson Sphere were constructed at the
same distance from the sun as the Earth, and if it were stable, it would enclose a space
of approximately 600 million times the surface area of our planet. I
n other words, the interior of the Dyson
Sphere would be vastly larger than the surface area of the Earth. According to Dr. Robert L. Forward, such a
megastructure with a radius of 1 astronomical unit would require approximately 10^27 kilograms
of material, which is roughly equivalent to the mass of Saturn. However, this estimate assumes a solid shell
and may not take into account the technological challenges of building such a structure. It would take a lot of building materials
and energy to m
ake stars go dark by encompassing them with Dyson Spheres. Nothing like this has been detected in the
Milky Way yet. However, there were a few times when scientists
thought they had found something like a Dyson Sphere. When the SETI Institute detected a signal
coming from the star HD 164595, 92 light-years from Earth, astrophysicists hypothesized that
only a Type 2 civilization beacon could send such a powerful signal, but it turned out
to be just a military satellite orbiting Earth. And in 2008
, astronomers detected an exoplanet
orbiting a super-bright orange dwarf star, and dubbed it Fomalhaut b. At first glance, the planet appeared as a
bright and cold point of light that quickly moved across the sky. However, in 2014, the planet had vanished,
leaving scientists to ponder the reason behind its disappearance. Some suggested that the planet's orbit may
have become unstable, causing it to drift away from its parent star. Others proposed that Fomalhaut b had migrated
to orbit a differen
t, larger, and brighter star elsewhere in the galaxy. It wasn't until later that researchers discovered
that the celestial body was not actually a planet, but rather an enormous cloud of frozen
debris. This debris is thought to have formed from
a massive and violent collision between two icy asteroids - an extremely rare phenomenon. Although we may never know for certain what
happened to Fomalhaut b, it's possible that a Type 2 civilization was in need of building
materials for their next megast
ructure, such as a Dyson Sphere. Given the uncertainty surrounding the disappearance
of stars, it begs the question of how we would even begin to trace the activity of a Type
3 civilization. Civilizations of type 3 are either very rare
or simply don’t exist in our local universe. Astronomers have searched for them using the
infrared telescope WISE, expecting to detect large amounts of infrared radiation that such
highly advanced civilizations would emit. So far, no signs of such activity have be
en
found, but astronomers remain hopeful. It is hypothesized that type 3 civilizations
may be hiding in giant cosmic voids, the origin of which is not yet fully understood. One particular area of interest is the Boötes
Void, which is almost entirely devoid of stars and galaxies and has a diameter of 330 million
light-years, making up approximately 0.27% of the diameter of the observable universe. According to scientific speculation, the empty
space may be attributed to the various kinds of activ
ities by an advanced Type 3 civilization. It's possible that some extraterrestrials
have been obscuring entire galaxies one by one, covering their stars with Dyson spheres
or moving them to the desired location. Scientists hope that Earth's technological
advancements will allow them to test this hypothesis in the near future. Do you think we will ever find intelligent
life out there? And if we do, should we ever try and get in
contact? Sound off in the comments, and stay tuned
here to know about
the most mind-boggling cosmic discoveries. Thanks for watching.
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