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00:00Since our species' beginning, humanity has wondered how we fit into the cosmos.
00:04We've always questioned where the future will take us, what technology and wisdom we
00:09will obtain, and at what point will these advances reach their peak.
00:13One method of measuring technological prowess comes from Carl Sagan, who called the highest
00:18possible state of civilization Level Z.
00:21So just how different would Earth be if we managed to achieve Z-living?
00:26This is Unveiled, and today we're answering the extraordinary question, what if humanity
00:30was a Level Z civilization?
00:33Do you need the big questions answered?
00:35Are you constantly curious?
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00:43To understand what any prediction for the future means, we should first look at where
00:47we stand today.
00:48The general concept of a civilization level largely comes from the Kardashev Scale, originally
00:53designed by Nikolai Kardashev, a Soviet astronomer, in 1964.
00:58It divides civilizations specifically based on their ability to harness and use energy.
01:03There are three primary categories they can be sorted into.
01:06First, a Type I civilization, the lowest on the chain, can control the energy of its entire
01:12planet.
01:13On Earth, it requires complete access to all of the energy that reaches us from the sun.
01:18Once humanity can access 100% of this, we'll be considered a Type I civilization.
01:23In theory, one of the more dramatic applications at this stage is that we should be able to
01:27manipulate natural events as well, such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
01:32We're not quite there yet, but experts, most notably the futurist Michio Kaku, predict
01:37it could take about another 200 years for this to be a reality.
01:41And actually, Carl Sagan made a telling contribution to the Kardashev Model, too.
01:46It was he who proposed intermediate values for the Kardashev System, and he calculated
01:50that humanity right now is around a Type 0.7 civilization.
01:54So, after almost 10,000 years of modern human civilization, that's where we've gotten
01:59to.
02:00Next up on Kardashev's ladder is Type II.
02:03Type II groups are capable of commanding the energy of their entire home star.
02:07That is, not just the fraction that makes it to their planet, but the total energy of
02:11the entire star itself.
02:13From our perspective, this would require technology centuries more advanced than what we currently
02:18possess, with the Dyson Sphere being something of a poster child for Type II greatness.
02:23It's a hypothetical megastructure that completely surrounds a star, capturing all the energy
02:28it produces.
02:29Nothing is lost, everything is caught, and everything is efficiently redirected and used.
02:35Clearly, humankind is a long, long way away from being able to produce such a contraption.
02:40To us, they're craftable in theory, but are completely impossible for human engineering
02:45to actually build.
02:47Fascinatingly, though, we're in the business of trying to find Dyson Spheres in the modern
02:51day.
02:52Astronomers believe that if any Type II civilizations do exist, then we should be able to observe
02:57their spheres with advanced enough telescopes.
02:59And excitingly, at the time of writing, the search for megastructures has found a handful
03:04of candidates.
03:05Further analysis is required to confirm precisely what these somethings are, and many believe
03:10that any anomalies we may have spotted will ultimately be explained away as perfectly
03:14natural, non-artificial phenomena.
03:17But certainly, watch this space.
03:19Finally, a Kardashev Type III civilization can harness an entire galaxy's worth of
03:24energy.
03:25It's a major step up from a Type II, and an inconceivably huge upgrade on Type I.
03:30There are thought to be roughly 100 million stars in a galaxy on average, and a Type III
03:35controls them all.
03:36If one were present in the Milky Way, then we'd surely know all about them.
03:39They'd effectively govern and permeate everything about us, our world, and all of our cosmic
03:45landscapes.
03:46To human minds, a Type II would be akin to a god.
03:49Beyond this lies speculation, Type IV, Type V, and beyond.
03:53The parameters get increasingly epic and invariably muddled, but as you travel higher and higher
03:58up the Kardashev scale, you're imagining universe-level civilizations, and then multiverse-level,
04:04and then higher dimensions, and then even higher dimensions, and so on.
04:08To them, the entire cosmos, no matter how huge you dream it, is but a field to harvest.
04:13So, how does Carl Sagan come into it?
04:15And what is Type Z all about?
04:17Well, although the Kardashev Scale is undoubtedly the most popular way to measure technological
04:22advancement, it's far from the only way.
04:25And another, arguably more fascinating and dynamic theory, was proposed by Sagan during
04:29his career.
04:30It's named the Information Mastery Scale, and instead of measuring advancement via energy
04:36harness, as per Kardashev, it focuses on how much information the species, or civilization,
04:41possesses.
04:42Instead of numbers, it uses the Latin alphabet as markers, where A is the bottom of the chain
04:47and Z is the top.
04:49Sagan defined the letter A as representing one million unique bits of information, or
04:54approximately one megabyte of data.
04:57Each letter represents an extra ten times the quantity of information, so B would be
05:0210 million bits, Z would be 100 million bits, and so on.
05:06Eventually, level Z possesses 10 to the power of 31 bits.
05:10That's a number with 31 zeros in it before the decimal place.
05:14We might think of Sagan's system as being an extension of the Kardashev Scale, but where
05:18it most differs is that it introduces a much more nuanced journey through the different
05:22civilization types, including a high number of intermediate levels.
05:26Sagan had reportedly been left dissatisfied with how large the gaps were in Kardashev's
05:31proposal, so he developed a more gradual model to smooth out the issues.
05:35And in many ways, it does better reflect how, in reality, a civilization will never
05:39jump straight from Type I to Type II.
05:43There are countless developments, and vast stretches of time, between them.
05:47Sagan published a paper explaining the mathematics of his logarithmic scale, going up in powers
05:52of ten in 1973.
05:54The A-to-Z styling actually wasn't proposed, or wasn't only proposed by him, but it made
05:59sense and was easily better suited to the much more granular approach.
06:03The scale considers far more than just energy, as well.
06:07It's flexible enough to take into account other additional, crucial elements of civilization
06:11growth, such as intelligence, mastery over dimensions, and existential purpose.
06:16At some point, pretty much all of everything can be reduced down into plain bits of information.
06:22So, what do Sagan's levels actually look like?
06:25The lowest, Type A, would simply be basic biological organisms, without any developed
06:30technology.
06:31The lowest, pre-humanoid species would be Type B, complete with simple tools, basic
06:35writing, and the ability to harness fire.
06:38Type C are early urban societies, such as the first Mesopotamians in ancient Sumeria.
06:43Early Greek civilizations fit into Type D, then later more advanced ones into Type E,
06:48determined by the philosophical ideals of their society at that time.
06:52Type F involves worldwide agricultural mastery, and Type G is an industrial society, able
06:58to build steam trains, steamboats, etc.
07:01Type H is where humanity currently lies, being able to fly through the skies and travel
07:05to our planet's natural satellites.
07:08After this, they become incrementally more advanced in a similar fashion, until eventually
07:12reaching Type Z.
07:14At around Type S, our modern human minds begin to tap out.
07:18S through to Z civilizations are also extremely advanced, and increasingly so, that much of
07:23what they should be able to do is beyond human comprehension.
07:27For example, at Type X, a civilization would theoretically have conquered about 50 billion
07:32light-years of the universe, which is roughly half of the entire known cosmos.
07:37Type Y uses laws of physics which we don't understand at all right now, having access
07:41to the fastest computers imaginable.
07:44But Type Z?
07:45Nothing beats it.
07:46Type Z would have absolute control over the entire universe.
07:50It would be far, far superior to even the Xs and the Ys that came before them.
07:54To little old us still dwindling down here at Type H, a Type Z would probably dwarf even
07:59what we imagine our mightiest gods would be capable of.
08:03They could freely manipulate reality as they choose, and nothing would be unknown to them.
08:08They could create and destroy, travel anywhere, see anything, feel everything… the total
08:13universe is a playground in the palm of their hand.
08:17As such, if humanity were a Type Z entity, then we wouldn't be recognisably human anymore.
08:22We'll have transcended beyond our biological, physical forms completely.
08:26We'll have moved through the ages of cybernetics, bio-enhancements, and artificial intelligence,
08:31and we'll likely have far surpassed them all.
08:34Our consciousness could have an all-new shape.
08:36The quantum world would be just as known to us.
08:39Not even the insides of black holes would hold secrets.
08:42Perhaps, at this stage, we'd be pure energy.
08:45Maybe we'd possess a hive mind.
08:47But whatever it is that we're doing, there would be nothing more for us to do afterwards.
08:51Unless, that is, Sagan's scale could also be more speculatively extended, much as the
08:56Kardashev scale has been in recent years.
08:59With the multiverse to contend with in the cosmological background, it's always a possibility.
09:04Nevertheless, what would being at such an advanced stage mean for morality, ethics,
09:09and responsibility?
09:10Would a Type Z be benevolent, malevolent, or indifferent?
09:13Would it seek to guide lesser civilizations, ruin them?
09:16Or would it just not notice them at all?
09:19What goals would such a species have?
09:21With the complete mastery of reality, the pursuit of knowledge would be at an end.
09:26So, what next?
09:27What could drive such a civilization?
09:29For now, it's a future that's wholly beyond our reach.
09:32If a Type Z ever did emerge, then we, and Earth, will be a distant, infinitesimally
09:38insignificant memory to it.
09:40And yet, there is cause to wonder… because that unparalleled ability to create could
09:45well be the most profound aspect of all, on this highest of levels.
09:50If humanity were a Z, then we might well become the ultimate creators of new life, and that
09:55life would then inescapably live in a reality of our own making.
09:59Which is a bit of a mind-bender, because who's to say that's not already happening?
10:03It's just that, right now, we're the created, rather than the creator.
10:08What do you think?
10:09Is there anything we missed?
10:11Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you
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