Created in the mid-20th century, the Kardashev Scale offers a fascinating perspective on the technological development of civilizations, ranking them according to their ability to harness available energy. But where does humanity fit into this hierarchy? And above all, what are the future ambitions that could allow us to climb the ladder?
A scale with three types of civilization
In 2015, Belgian researcher Clément Vidal affirmed that there were stars harboring life. In developing his thesis, he notably used Kardashev scale. Nikolai Kardachev (1932-2019) was a Soviet and then Russian astronomer who worked on quasars, these extremely luminous supermassive black holes. The researcher also attempted to discover traces de communication extraterrestre.
Let us remember that many literary and cinematographic works evoke contacts ou invasions extraterrestres. This implies that these life forms have come to us and have the technological means. While the search for life outside our planet continues more than ever, Nikolai Kardachev had already tried in 1964 to develop a scale allowing classify civilizations according to their degree of technological development.
The Soviet researcher had defined three types of civilizations. Type I concerns a civilization capable of using all of the energy available on its planet of origin for a value estimated at 10 million billion watts (10^16 W). Type II relates to a civilization capable of using total energy emitted by the star in its system solar (10^26 W). Finally, type III concerns a civilization capable of using all of the energy present in its galaxy of origin (10^36 W).
New categories were then theorized
If Nikolai Kardachev had limited his scale to three types, other scientists such as the astronomer Carl Sagan (1934-1996) added several types. There is therefore now a type IV relating to a civilization that could capture the full power of a multitude of galaxies as well as intergalactic radiation. This civilization would then control the entire Universe, which includes matter, means of transport and information.
One hypothesis states that our universe is not unique and exists among many others within a multiverse. Thus, type V relates to a civilization which would control the energy of several universes at once and could move there. Type VI, the last on the list, is undoubtedly the most surprising. Indeed, it is a question of a civilization capable of controlling space and time inside and outside the universes. Thus, it would be found outside the limits dictated by space-time.
According to Nikolai Kardachev and Carl Sagan, humanity has not yet reached Type I. Assuming that our society is largely based on energies such as oil and coal, we should have access to energy resources a thousand times greater to hope to achieve this first type. This leaves us wondering, especially since, for the moment, humanity has set foot in only one place outside the Earth, namely on the Moon.
Although humanity is still far from reaching Type I, advances in energy technologies and efforts to harness renewable energy sources such as solar, wind or nuclear fusion could gradually bring us closer to this objective. However, this energy transition requires massive infrastructure and global cooperation to succeed, while taking into account environmental and economic issues. At the same time, initiatives such as the search for extraterrestrial civilizations and the colonization of space lay the first foundations for exploration beyond the limits of our planet, nourishing the idea that our civilization could one day rise into this Kardashev scale.
Related News :