What If Humanity Was A Type III Civilization?

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00:00In 1964, Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev carved his name into cosmological history

00:06with the Kardashev scale, a means to measure hypothetically advanced civilizations, based

00:13on the amount of energy they can wield.

00:15At Kardashev type III, it's everything in a galaxy.

00:19For humans, that means every star, planet, black hole, pulsar, everything in the Milky

00:26Way.

00:28What would you do with all of that power?

00:32So, what exactly is a type III civilization?

00:37The term was first coined by the Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev, who devised a way to categorize

00:42the degree of technological advancement and intergalactic influence of all hypothetical

00:47societies.

00:48He originally offered three separate groups, types I, II, and III, with more categories

00:53added afterwards to encompass even more possibilities for our imagined civilizations.

00:58But still, type III is held as an ultimate end goal.

01:01According to the Kardashev scale, a type I group is able to harness all of the energy

01:06produced by and on its home planet.

01:08Type II groups can capture and efficiently use the energy produced by their most local

01:12star, perhaps at their highest level through something called a Dyson Sphere, a theoretical

01:17device that would surround the sun to transfer energy back to us like super-efficient solar

01:21panels.

01:22But, a type III civilization runs off of the energy output of its entire galaxy.

01:27In our case, it'd mean a system of energy capture that would leave no star or object

01:31in the Milky Way untouched or untapped.

01:33We'd be a super-advanced race of beings with seemingly limitless power.

01:37As mentioned, the Kardashev scale has been expanded in both directions more recently

01:41to include type 0, medieval-style tech that we've since improved upon, but also type

01:46IV, the harnessing of energy from an entire universe, and type V, which unlocks the power

01:51of the multiverse.

01:52But, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.

01:55Type III galactic power has often been billed as the major breakthrough.

01:58So, what would entering Kardashev's third tier mean for us?

02:02And where exactly are we starting from?

02:04Well, according to Carl Sagan's interpretation back in the 1970s, Earth deserved to be classified

02:09as a Type 0.7 planet… which, in Kardashev's grand scheme of things, feels fairly disappointing.

02:16Especially since we're also the most advanced civilization we've ever seen in all of the

02:19universe.

02:20For Sagan, combining both our technological advancement and our general access to information,

02:25that is the things we have but also the things we know.

02:28We can't yet consider ourselves fully Type I.

02:31Regardless, theoretical physicist Michio Kaku has said he thinks humanity will assume our

02:36place as a Type I group in a century or two.

02:39While the milestones for progress between 0 and 1 aren't universally agreed upon,

02:43we have at least achieved some degree of technological and societal improvement to show that we're

02:48heading in the right direction.

02:50Remember, it's mostly about using our own planet's potential in as efficient and logical

02:54a way as possible.

02:55For example, we've made steps toward a global language.

02:58Our worldwide communications system, the internet, is potentially only decades away from being

03:03accessible for every member of our species, and we've seen the birth of mostly cohesive

03:07trading blocs like the European Union.

03:10To truly become a Type I civilization, though, we have to balance our technological progress

03:14with the environment, ecosystems and general planet that we live on… or else we risk

03:19an early self-destruction.

03:21With the fabled Type III ban set firmly in our sights, however, we'd need cultural

03:25and scientific revolution one hundred times over.

03:28And the issue of energy, locating it, storing it and transmitting it, would be at the heart

03:32of our efforts.

03:33We'd have to build systems that harvest the output of entire stars which, at the very

03:37least, would require some form of reliable interstellar travel, or, arguably more simply,

03:42some kind of web of interstellar connections.

03:45As our ability to reach further into the stars increases, though, so do our chances

03:49of being challenged, meaning we'd need to also be prepared to hide or protect ourselves

03:53from the possibility of other advanced groups who can do the same thing.

03:57Of course, all of these things are much easier said than done, and actually achieving them

04:01would require us to overcome all sorts of barriers and possibly rethink the seemingly

04:05immovable facts about the fabric of the universe.

04:08The laws of thermodynamics, the laws of stable matter, and the implicit laws of planetary

04:13evolution could all slow our progress in ways we can hardly begin to anticipate.

04:17But, as our expanding pool of technological knowledge has helped us in the past, we'd

04:21still need to find answers to these problems.

04:24Perhaps our own biological shortcomings would be the first things we'd overcome, in the

04:28hope that a race that lives forever will improve forever.

04:31We'd employ new technologies to survive most natural, currently inevitable causes

04:35of death.

04:36Sickness and the ill effects of old age would surely be things of the past, in an existence

04:40where we have the ability to capture and use the energy of entire stars at our leisure.

04:45With our own biology essentially updated, our population would rapidly increase day

04:49by day as we also master self-replication techniques.

04:53But the problems of overpopulation would have long gone, seeing as we'd no longer be confined

04:57to just Earth.

04:58In fact, we may have moved off of Earth completely.

05:01And so, as we expand into the universe fuelled by the energy potential of an entire galaxy,

05:05we'd reach the limit of what Kardashev originally thought was possible.

05:09But such inconceivable developments could never unfold without dramatic societal change,

05:13as well.

05:14To overcome political barriers and create a truly united community, we'd need to establish

05:19seamless, unshakeable social cohesion throughout our species, allowing us to progress toward

05:23our increasing goals.

05:25Even achieving intergalactic energy capture would require all of us working together,

05:29rather than trying to battle and beat each other to key discoveries, inventions or pieces

05:33of legislation.

05:34For some, those same qualities are needed to graduate beyond even Type One, with our

05:38planet currently feeling the effects of war, division and overconsumption.

05:43If we can't band together for our own world, then could we ever truly expect to tame galaxies?

05:47Ultimately, our ascendance to Kardashev's Level Three could require us to rewrite what

05:52it means to be human, to readjust our natural instincts, to work as one thriving, fluid,

05:57intelligent mass.

05:58Perhaps we'd slowly, organically evolve over hundreds of thousands of years, or perhaps

06:02we'd gradually mechanize ourselves to keep up.

06:05Yeah, we're talking cyborgs.

06:07At least part-robotic recreations of real-world people could give us a limitless means for

06:11storing information in the form of memories.

06:14The internet would be integrated into our very thoughts, constantly added to by every

06:18other Type Three being, equipping us with instant knowledge on any subject.

06:23There are obvious downsides, including the prospects that our shared supercomputer could

06:27get hacked by a higher power, and the probability that our individual personalities would disappear

06:32as soon as our minds are networked together to turn us into blockchain humans.

06:36But such a shift would see us soar up Kardashev's scale, granting everyone access to everyone

06:40else's thoughts, memories and ideas, to further improve our status as a civilization.

06:46With such radical changes shaping us into almost unrecognizable beings from what we

06:49are today, there'd be little incentive or need to conventionally work as a Type Three

06:54human.

06:55Most tasks would be automated with little to no human intervention required.

06:58Instead, we'd be at liberty to continue exploring other galaxies, now that we've

07:03mastered our own, exposing our collective consciousness to what the wider universe has

07:06to offer.

07:07We'd no longer be limited by the planet we were born on, because we could travel anywhere,

07:12the wealth we were or weren't born into, because we'd all be equal, or the confines

07:16of even life expectancy, having sidestepped ageing and sickness, too.

07:21And so, with so much time on our hands, we'd almost inevitably busy ourselves trying to

07:25reach Kardashev Levels Four and Five, to wield universal power over everything in existence.

07:30This seemingly insatiable quest to complete Kardashev's scale does throw up a few existential

07:35questions.

07:36In this new world, what makes our lives worth living?

07:39How would we spend our extra time, effort and intellect?

07:41Would our primal needs for things like food, water, shelter and family still drive us in

07:45the same way?

07:47The average human's role in a civilization that has claimed dominion over an entire galaxy

07:51would clearly be completely different to what we experience today.

07:55And that's what would happen if humanity was a Type Three civilization.

07:59What do you think?

08:00Is there anything we missed?

08:01Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you

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