Chapter 320 Civilizational Tier Classification

Whether in the past or present, humanity has always been keen on classifying civilizations into different levels. This classification reflects our understanding of the stages of civilizational development and reveals our curiosity and exploration of the unknown world.

As early as 43 years before the Crisis Era, namely in 1964 Common Era, Russian astrophysicist Nikolai Kardashev proposed a highly influential classification framework. He argued that civilizations could be categorized based on the total amount of energy they could control and use, as well as their level of technological advancement.

This system of civilizational classifications provided a basic measure for the levels of civilizations. It was not merely a simple categorization, but rather a deep analysis of civilizational development stages.

With the rapid advancement of technology and humanity's growing understanding of cosmic civilizations, this theoretical framework has been continuously enriched and perfected. Despite numerous revisions and changes in detail, its core concepts remain an important reference for classifying the levels of cosmic civilizations to this day.

According to this framework, cosmic civilizations are classified into three distinct levels. The scientific community has always been divided over the existence of a fourth level, but the tendency is to believe it does not exist.

At present, civilization types are divided into Type I, Type II, and Type III civilizations.

The specific classification is as follows:

Type 0.1 civilization, this is a stage in the primitive era. At this stage, humanity primarily relied on their own muscular strength for hunting and gathering to sustain their livelihood. They were deeply connected with nature and lived a life closely tied to the natural environment.

The hallmark of a Type 0.2 civilization is that humans learned to control fire, began using stone tools, and learned to make clothing to withstand the cold.

In a Type 0.3 civilization, humans could construct some simple buildings, providing more stable shelters for living. The society also began to exhibit clear divisions of labor, which undoubtedly injected new vitality into societal development, but it still retained the typical characteristics of the Old Stone Age.

By the Type 0.4 civilization, humans began to utilize metals to create more advanced and refined tools and even learned to use other fuels, greatly improving their productivity. In this stage, writing began to take shape, offering a more convenient means of knowledge transmission, thereby significantly advancing productivity. At the later part of this civilization level, humanity had entered the Bronze Age, marking dual progress in technology and culture.

Type 0.5 civilization represented a crucial turning point; humanity entered the Iron Age. The widespread use of iron tools once again leapfrogged productivity, and people even managed to construct large ships that could traverse the oceans. The seeds of the Industrial Revolution also quietly emerged during this phase.

Type 0.6 civilization marked the beginning of the industrial era, with a large number of land-based transportation vehicles like trains and cars emerging, and humanity gradually mastered the technology of flight, making the sky no longer an unreachable dream. At the same time, high-tech fields like computers continued to develop, heralding the advent of the information age.

At Type 0.7 civilization, the nuclear and information age, humanity began to vigorously develop nuclear energy, electronic information technology, and aerospace engineering. They officially ventured into the vast field of cosmic exploration. In the early Crisis Era, human civilization reached level 0.73, completing miraculous feats such as controlled nuclear fusion, space elevators, and Moon bases.

Type 0.8 civilization, the period of melding with the Underground City during the Crisis Era, saw humanity's civilization reaching a new pinnacle. The development of interstellar warships and nuclear pump technology began to emerge, and humanity officially started a new chapter in the Era of Solar System Expansion.

Type 0.9 civilization, the Earth-Moon Lagrange Standoff Period in the Crisis Era, saw humanity's footprints spread across the entire Solar System. The resources within the Solar System were fully exploited and utilized by humanity, forming a vast Solar System governance system.

Type 1.0 civilization, the period of humanity's civilization during the Doomsday War, reached unprecedented heights. Humanity constructed the Stellar Defense System and possessed the capability for interstellar travel. Meanwhile, the Trisolaran Civilization also developed to level 1.1. The competition between the two civilizations became the most eye-catching focus of this period, together composing a majestic interstellar epic.

At this moment, human civilization has officially entered the ranks of Type I civilization, that is, Planetary Civilization. A Type I civilization's energy consumption reaches 10 to the power of 16 watts; of course, the current method of calculating energy utilization rates serves only as a reference and does not have a definitive meaning.

Humanity could now deeply control various natural phenomena on their home planet, from weather changes to the utilization of land resources, all within their grasp. At this moment, human civilization already possessed the ability to mine and use the resources of neighboring planets, and even the potential power to destroy them, marking humanity's official entry into the ranks of primary cosmic civilizations.

In this period, living space for civilizations expanded dramatically, yet it was also a time when internal contradictions within civilizations intensified. For example, at Type 0.6, civilizations often experienced the strongest internal contradictions.

This period was also extremely susceptible to revealing a civilization to the outside.

At Type 1.1 civilization, the period of the Dust War, humanity had stepped into a new era of technology. In this period, the micro-domain saw rapid developments, and humanity successfully mastered technologies such as the Waterdrop, Sophon, and Glue Bullets, which gave them significant advantages in interstellar wars. Additionally, if there were no external restrictions, Curvature Technology would inevitably be mastered by humanity.

Type 1.2 civilization denotes the period when humanity embarked on an expedition to Trisolaris. During this stage, human civilization had sufficient strength and resources to send Expedition Fleets to nearby star systems. Human civilization also launched a Doomsday War campaign against the Trisolaran Civilization during this period. Humanity not only made significant technological breakthroughs but also displayed unprecedented courage and wisdom in cosmic exploration and interstellar warfare.

Type 1.3 civilization had the comprehensive capability for interstellar migration. In this period, humanity not only mastered efficient interstellar travel technology but also achieved major breakthroughs in planet development and ecosystem construction.

At Type 1.4 civilization, a civilization might leave its Home Star System and have some ability to avoid strikes from the hidden Hines Strike.

Type 1.5 civilization became true Cosmic Explorers, continuously delving into the mysteries of the universe and further enhancing their defensive capabilities against Hines Strikes.

At Type 1.6 civilization, the civilization achieved a breakthrough and possessed the preliminary capability to launch Hines Strikes.

1.7-level civilizations, not needing to strictly hide anymore, began expanding into starfields and engaging in civilization conquest.

1.8-level civilizations started forming interstellar civilization alliances. In the vast starfields, civilizations at this stage were no longer easily exterminated, and compromise and cooperation became inevitable.

1.9-level civilizations entered the ranks of high-level civilizations to a preliminary extent, mastering certain starfields and earning the right to dialogue with other high-level civilizations.

...

2.0-level civilizations, also known as Type II civilizations or Stellar Civilizations, can harness the energy of an entire stellar system, with their energy consumption reaching 10 to the power of 26 watts. Of course, this is just a reference; the true measure of such civilizations' level is the use of micro-level and dimensional applications, not energy consumption.

These civilizations can completely control all the energy of a stellar system, they even possess the power to destroy stars, a force so powerful it almost surpasses our imagination.

They have a certain dominion over starfields, they are the leaders in establishing cosmic order.

They no longer fear the Dark Forest, which represents a Cold War period in their interstellar conflicts.

They have begun to touch upon and utilize cosmic laws, and advanced levels of such civilizations can even change their form of civilization, for instance, transforming themselves into low-dimensional life forms.

(Singer and civilizations on the periphery are of this type.)

Type III civilizations, also known as Galaxy Civilizations, can utilize the energy of an entire galaxy, with their energy consumption reaching 10 to the power of 36 watts, with their level determined more by the extent of their use of cosmic laws.

Having transcended the constraints of the material world, they have started to delve into and utilize the most fundamental laws of the universe. This deep-level utilization makes them hegemonic forces in the universe.

Even the weakest Type III civilizations are powerful enough to make the whole universe tremble, and their very existence reshapes cosmic order.

They are the hegemonic forces of the universe, and most large-scale wars occur among Type II civilizations.

If a Type III civilization were to wage war, it would be an unprecedented disaster for the entire universe.

(The Returner civilization is of this type, and such civilizations are extremely rare in the universe; they are all super-civilizations.)

...

Through this classification of civilization levels, it's not hard to see that humanity, in just a short span of 300 years, has astonishingly leaped across half a civilization level.

This is an achievement that many other civilizations have been unable to reach even over hundreds of thousands of years, and without the Sophon Blockade, perhaps humanity could have done it in just 200 years.

Though the achievement was spurred by the immense pressure of the Trisolaris Crisis, it further highlights the tremendous potential of human civilization and that relentless, intrepid spirit.

Looking back at the past and toward the future, one can't help feeling genuinely proud of humanity's brilliant achievements and boundless possibilities.

The Trisolaran Civilization was once the greatest crisis on humanity's path forward, but now, it has become a thing of the past in our history.

Yet, the path ahead is still filled with unknowns and challenges; what new crises will humanity encounter?

Each level of civilization will eliminate countless other civilizations, and the vessel of human civilization still sails alone on the vast ocean. Despite having weathered its first storm—the Trisolaris Crisis—when we look around, we still see only endless dangerous waves.

No one knows whether the other shore truly exists.

PS: The standards of the civilizations in this book still differ greatly from the actual Kardashev framework and shouldn't be completely integrated.

From this moment, the saga of the civilization messengers officially unfolds, and 1.2-level human civilization will also turn the page to its new chapter.