Type III Societies (Apparently) Do Not Exist
1–10 of 91 posts
Re: Type III Societies (Apparently) Do Not Exist
#2Somewhat tangentially related: a non-scientific discussion on what Type I, II, and III Societies are, and why they might not quite make it.
Re: Type III Societies (Apparently) Do Not Exist
#3Plot twist: the "dark matter" in the universe actually consists of Type III societies harnessing the electromagnetic radiation of their galaxies by a means as-yet unknown to us.
Re: Type III Societies (Apparently) Do Not Exist
#4I'm unconvinced by the Kardashev assumption that energy is the limiting factor for civilisation.
It's more likely that beyond a certain point you have all the energy you can use, and the limiting factor becomes collective intelligence.
I'd guess that in the same way that processors keep getting more efficient, so do civilisations. At the highest levels the energy signature of a civilisation is virtually indistinguishable from the cosmic microwave background - if it's observable at all.
Re: Type III Societies (Apparently) Do Not Exist
#5Plot twist: the "dark matter" in the universe actually consists of Type III societies harnessing the electromagnetic radiation of their galaxies by a means as-yet unknown to us.
Plot twist: Black holes are where Type III civilizations merged into a unified singularity, absconding off to their own self-created universe.
Re: Type III Societies (Apparently) Do Not Exist
#6Plot twist: the "dark matter" in the universe actually consists of Type III societies harnessing the electromagnetic radiation of their galaxies by a means as-yet unknown to us.
Wow I've actually never even thought of that before. I smell a sci-fi novel...
Re: Type III Societies (Apparently) Do Not Exist
#7Plot twist: the "dark matter" in the universe actually consists of Type III societies harnessing the electromagnetic radiation of their galaxies by a means as-yet unknown to us.
"A fire upon the deep" by Vernor Vinge is an interesting exploration of this. In the book different (and more desirable) physical laws take effect in places of low average matter density, so intelligent civilizations migrate out of their galaxies into the sparsely populated galactic rim.
Re: Type III Societies (Apparently) Do Not Exist
#8Or, the blackboxes might not emit the radiation we expect because of some technology or physics that we don't know about yet.
Re: Type III Societies (Apparently) Do Not Exist
#9I'm unconvinced by the Kardashev assumption that energy is the limiting factor for civilisation. It's more likely that beyond a certain point you have all the energy you can use, and the limiting factor becomes collective intelligence. I'd guess that in the same way that processors keep getting more efficient, so do civilisations. At the highest levels the energy signature of a civilisation is virtually indistinguish…
> It's more likely that beyond a certain point you have all the energy you can use, and the limiting factor becomes collective intelligence.
Why is this more likely?
Re: Type III Societies (Apparently) Do Not Exist
#10Plot twist: the "dark matter" in the universe actually consists of Type III societies harnessing the electromagnetic radiation of their galaxies by a means as-yet unknown to us.
"A fire upon the deep" by Vernor Vinge is an interesting exploration of this. In the book different (and more desirable) physical laws take effect in places of low average matter density, so intelligent civilizations migrate out of their galaxies into the sparsely populated galactic rim.
I'm still hoping there will be a fourth novel. He never really explored what was going on with the zones of thought.