But one simple way to measure it is to count the amount of energy people consume at any given time. As humanity has spread and developed, our ability to use energy has become one of the most useful skills.
Assuming that civilizations on other planets may have similar skills, the energy consumption of one species or another is a good proxy for its technological prowess. It is this idea that underlies the Kardashev scale.
Russian astrophysicist Nikolai Kardashev proposed this scale in 1964. He divided civilizations into three types: planetary, stellar and galactic.
A Type I species is capable of harnessing energy on a scale equal to the amount of stellar energy reaching its home planet. Type II species can use energy on the scale of their home star, and type III species can use the energy of their home galaxy.
This idea was popularized by Carl Sagan, who suggested using a continuous scale of measurements rather than just three types.
So what type of civilization do we belong to? Although people consume a huge amount of energy, it turned out that we are not even the first type.
On average, about 1016 watts of solar energy enters the Earth, and humanity currently uses about 1013 watts. On the Sagan Sliding Scale, this means we are currently at 0.73.
Not bad
for a bunch of evolved primates, but it raises an interesting question.
Can we even achieve the first type? After all, we can’t capture all the
sunlight that hits Earth and still have a habitable planet....<<<Read More>>>....