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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?
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