In recent years, scientists have expanded this scale to measure hypothetical civilizations-civilization s that are galactic, intergalactic, and even multiverse in nature.Īre you ready to find out where humanity falls? Then press on!Ĭlick to View Full Infographic Civilization Types The scale has a number of different categories (levels of classification). In other words, according to this theory, a culture's development (in the very widest sense) is a product of energy and of technology: Through technology, energy is harnessed, and as social systems are expressions of this technology, the status of a culture rests upon (and is determined by) the amount of energy that is harnessed. Essentially, the more energy that a society can produce, the more technologically advanced they are (this was originally just tied to energy available for communications, but has since been expanded). He theorized that a civilization's technical advancement runs parallel to the amount of energy that the civilization is able to harness and manipulate. In 1964, Kardashev came up with the idea that the status of a culture, as a whole, depends on two primary things: Energy and technology. The Kardashev scale exists because of a Russian astrophysicist known as Nicolai Kardashev (bet you'll never guess where the scale got its name from). Notably, the amount of power available to a civilization is linked to how widespread the civilization is (whether it populates a planet, galaxy, or an entire universe). If you just want to understand the basics of this scale, you can read the following paragraph and skip the more technical section, which is helpfully marked “The TLDR Part.”Įssentially, to measure a civilization’s advancement, the Kardashev scale focuses on the amount of energy that a civilization is able to utilize. Or in layman’s terms, something that will allow us to measure our awesomeness against the total possible awesomeness. Fortunately, there are several ways of conducting such measurements. One of the easiest ways to answer this question is to form a scale that will allow us to scientifically measure our technological abilities against the technological possibilities. With such a coupling of unimaginable horrors and magnificent advancements, how can we possibly measure our status as a civilization? How can we weigh all the exciting and inspiring scientific discoveries against all the destruction and chaos? We have an ever-expanding list of catastrophes that is coupled with (indeed, that parallels) our unrelenting march towards technological perfection. But we also have a lot of things going for us: the Alcubierre Warp Drive, invisibility cloaks, the Mars rover missions, the discovery of the Higgs (again, the list goes on and on). Let’s be honest, we have our fair share of problems on planet Earth: war, floods, disease, poverty, and environmental destruction (the list goes on and on, really).
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