Three Main Reasons of Why Man Will Never Achieve a Level 1 Civilization
(PD) Milky Way - Type III civilizations allegedly consume as much energy as the Milky Way, and,
many people do believe it to be true.
What is a Level 1 Civilization?
As the stories are commonly told, in 1964 Nikolai Kardashev (Soviet astronomer) presented his paper Transmission of Information by Extraterrestrial Civilizations that proposed the idea that there are three levels of civilization for extra-terrestrial beings. As the stories continue, type 1 civilization is supposed to be capable of harnessing all planetary energy, type 2 is supposed to be capable of harnessing the sun's energy, and type 3 is supposed to be capable of harnessing all energy of the galaxy.
Regardless of what academicians and the news media might claim, it is always important for a reader to actually read the original paper instead of believing in what other people claim. The following is a brief excerpt from a translated version of Nikolai Kardashev's Transmission of Information by Extraterrestrial Civilizations. Note that the mathematical symbols are not identical as what the paper provides (please read the original document for precise mathematical equations).
"Calculations show that the total quantity of energy expended by all of mankind per second at the present time is about 4X10^19 erg, and the annual increase in this energy expenditure is placed at 3-4% over the next 60 years, on the basis of statistical findings. Now let this increment represent an annual increase in energy consumption by a factor of 1+x, so that in t years the increase will be (1+x)^t ~ etx times (x (equal or less than) 1). Assuming x=1%, we find that the energy consumption per second will be equal to the output of the sun per second, ...in 5800 years the energy consumed will equal the output of 10^11 stars like the sun. The figures arrived at seem to be inordinately high when compared to the present level of development, but we see no reasons why the tempo of increase in energy consumption should fall substantially than predicted."
..."I - technological level close to the level presently attained on earth, with energy consumption at ~4x10^19 erg/sec. II - a civilization capable of harnessing the energy radiated by its own star... . III - a civilization in possession of energy on the scale of its own galaxy, with energy consumption at ~4x10^44 erc/sec."
What!? What!? — What the blazes was Nikolai Kardashev thinking? Consuming energy results in heat. It is eternally impossible for mankind to consume as much energy as the sun without the earth becoming as hot as the sun. Surely the translation has serious errors because it seems unbelievable that anyone could be that stupid. Oh, wait a minute, there are people that stupid; they are named 'news reporters' and 'academicians', of whom have written thousands of articles claiming that we will become a Type I civilization when we begin to consume as much energy as our planet.
And the news reporters and academicians still have their jobs because almost no one noticed what the reporters and academicians actually said. Let's write it real slow... con-sume... as... much... en-er-gy... as... our... pla-net. Uh, well, sure, okay, yeah, uh-huh, but what is far more disturbing is that some people actually do believe that it is a rational claim.
Surely Nikolai Kardashev had something else in mind, perhaps of Type I simply possessing the capacity to 'produce' similar but limited quantities of energy, or perhaps to simply discover and to make use of all planetary sources of energy, but, as the paper currently stands, the math and wording do appear to suggest the word "consumption" as being relative to the "propagation" of "the background of cosmic radio-frequency emission" "as may be detected by conventional radio astronomical techniques", sufficiently strong enough for humans to detect on earth.
Three Reasons Why Mankind Will Never Become a Type I Civilization
Reason #1: The one and only 'energy' source known to mankind is caveman fire. Man uses fire to power his vehicles, fire to generate his electricity, fire to heat his home, thousands of kilowatts of fire to smelter the ores to create 1 kilowatt of solar panels, and fire to smelt the radioactive ores to produce the nuclear heat and fire that destroys. It is laughably absurd to believe that fire is the one and only source of energy in the universe, but still that is what the news reporters, academicians, and all other cavemen do sincerely believe.
Reason #2: Mankind refuses to self-better itself. Instead of lusting for more power and materialism, mankind could choose to become an intelligent specie that forms Earth into a paradise planet for all living beings. Mankind is destroying the planet, and if mankind survives long enough, it will destroy the planet. The more fire that mankind acquires, the faster it will destroy the planet.
Reason #3: Amongst the first things that mankind would do with a new source of non-fire energy, would be to immediately convert the energy source into a weapon to murder everyone while also fully destroying the planet. You do not give a monkey a loaded AK-47, nor do you give mankind a source of unlimited energy. Anyone smart enough to devise a new energy source, is also smart enough to never tell anyone about it.
Sum
When academicians and the news media make a claim, it is always wise to research the original papers to determine whether or not the original author actually stated what the academicians and news media claimed. Whether humorous, deeply disturbing, or both, the 'Type I-II-III civilization' topic is indeed one of the utmost amential ideas ever invented.
Related articles are in the Intelligence section.