Civilisation Classification

[NoXion]

Civilisation Classification

Gauging energy outputs for intelligent life

All civilisations and sapient lifeforms utilise energy beyond what they can normally produce or consume with their bodies. The Civilisation Classification system is a way of quantifying that energy usage. It is intended as a broad scale rather than a precise measurement, to aid comparison between civilisations. Based on the ancient Kardashev scale, the Civilisation Classification system takes into account recent discoveries in the fields of xenology, cosmology and physics. Note: A given civilisation does not actually have to use all the energy available in it's home planet to be classified as a Type I - it it's energy harnessing can be spread out over several bodies. What's measured is total energy production. The same goes for all the other categories.


Type 0

Uses less energy than can be found in an average planet. Pre-spaceflight Earth is an example of such a civilisation.


Type I

Harnesses all the energy available in an average planet, and possibly then some. Most civilisations of interplanetary scope fall into this category.


Type II

Stellar levels of energy are produced/harness by civilisations in this category. Mature civilisations of this type are the smallest civs with the energy requirements necessary to build megastructures. Civs at this stage are untouchable by natural disasters.


Type III

A civilisation of this type uses/produces amounts of energy equal to many stars, from small star clusters (like say the Pleiades) to entire galactic arms. Such civilisations usually have an abundance of megastructures if they are so inclined.


Type IV

Galactic levels of energy are produced and utilised. Mature civs in this category are capable of small-scale galactic sculpting, enabling them to tailor their home galaxy to their particular needs. A civ at this level is on the step to the road to immortality, not withstanding being wiped out by a higher level civilisation.


Type V

Civ in this category can can use levels of energy equivalent to all the energy available in the Local Group. No direct observations have been made of such civilisation, but it is not impossible for them to exist, prompting the advancement of the Universal Exterminator hypothesis, where a vastly more advanced civilisation regularly scours the universe of weaker civilisations.


Type VI

Energy levels harnessed are equal to the total amount of energy available in the Virgo cluster. Such a civilisation is believed to form part of the Horolgium Supercluster, and more are suspected to exist elsewhere in the universe. The Horolgium Type VI Civilisation has been detected through observation of galactic megastructures, including Galactic Sphere similar to those of the Starchitects but differing in a few important respects.


Type VII

Supercluster levels of energy are produced and used. Such civilisations would be very rare within a single universe, and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that such civilisation exist in our universe, considering the size of the visible universe comapred to the invisible. Such a civilisation would be powerful enough to create Galactic Spheres like the ones built by the Starchitects.


Type VIII

Universal energy harnessing. A civilisation in this category can either control the entire energy content of a single universe, or else control a large percentage of the energy content of multiple universes. The Starchitects are assumed by some to be in this category, while others postulate that they belong in the category below.


Type IX

Multiversal energy harnessing. Speculated by some to be the category in which the Starchitects belong to, civilisations of this type control the energy content of multiple universes, effectively having an infinite energy capability. Such civilisations can create universes at will, making them god-like in their capabilities.


Type X/∞

Of all the categories on the scale, Type X (or Type ∞) is reckoned by most xenologists to be purely theoretical - a civilisation of this type would control actual infinities of energy as opposed to merely apparent or practical infinities. Such a civilisation would have god-like capabilities and perfect (or near-perfect) control of the very fabric of reality.