remember we've got a big new audience
here on Sirius XM's oh if you would run
through the various types of
civilizations that that I know you you
you measure I mean it's a way of
measuring I guess and again we are
before we even begin
we remain I take it a type-0 that's
right we physicists like to measure
everything in terms of energy that's how
we quantify things including
civilizations and out of space so if you
look at out of space there must be three
types of civilizations type 1 type 2
type 3 depending fund energy output
eventually a civilization becomes
planetary they control the oceans they
mind the they can mind the earth they
can mind the ocean to control the
weather so they control all planetary
energy like volcanoes and earthquakes
that's type 1 type 2 is they've
exhausted the power of a planet and they
start to to mobilize the power of a star
they play with stars like Star Trek the
Federation of Planets would be a very
typical type to civilization where
they've pollen eyes just a few star
systems then eventually you exhaust the
power of a star and you go to the galaxy
that's type 3 where you roam the
Galactic space lanes like the Empire of
Empire Strikes Back so we have planets
stars and galaxies but recently I was
speaking in London and a little kid
comes up to me and he says professor
you're wrong
there's got to be type 4 and I said well
you're crazy there's no such thing as
Type four there are only planets stars
and galaxies and he said no this type
for the power of the continuum and then
I realized yeah there is something
beyond galactic power and that's dark
energy and that's the continuum that's
the power of the cue and I realized oh
my god there really is an extra galactic
source of energy out there dark energy
which actually makes up about 73% of the
universe's energy so on earth matter
yeah well charge medicine there and now
on this scale what are we on the scale
we are type zero we get our energy from
dead plants oil and coal right but we do
we do deserve to call ourselves a
civilization yes yes we are type zero
and we're about a hundred years from
being type 1 if you just get a
calculator and calculate the energy
output of the earth we're about a type-0
in about a hundred years will be type 1
so we are now making the historic
transition to type 1 so what is the
internet the internet is a type 1
telephone system we're privileged to be
alive to see the birth of a beginning of
a type 1 technology called the Internet
the language is that these people will
speak well today the two dominant
languages of the internet or English and
Mandarin
so we are already beginning to see a
type one language soccer and the
Olympics is beginning of a type one
sports the European Union NAFTA we see
the beginning of a type 1 economy quick
question do you think that in a hundred
years
English will still be part of a type one
civilization probably be the dominant
language everywhere I go around the
world people speak English to each other
I could go to Vietnam and see Chinese
Vietnamese and Lotion physicists and
he'll speak English to each other
because there's no common language in
Asia other than English and the same
thing in Europe you can go to a
conference in Europe among scientists
and they all speak English business
finance arts everyone speaks English ok
that's comforting will be here or at
least our language that's right and the
question is whether or not we'll get to
be here that's that's the big question
actually you know in the old days when I
interviewed you about this I asked you
about the odds of either a being
destroyed as a type-0 or be making it to
type 1 and you know popping the Cork's
on champagne but
mmm I don't know I've got this feeling
that you probably haven't changed your
mind what are the odds that we make it
successfully to Taiwan without
destroying ourselves well this is the
most historic transition in the history
of our civilization the transition from
type zero to type one and it's not
guaranteed that we're going to make it
because we have over warming nuclear
proliferation the spread of bio germs we
have threats week we create ourselves
and so it's not clear however I'd say
5050 now I'm a little bit more
optimistic as when I first talked to you
I should say that's a change yeah that
makes me feel better I feel a lot better
now yeah and I think 5050 that you know
that we have a fighting chance that that
will make it like one okay yeah look it
wasn't that long ago that we spoke now
between men and now what's encouraged
you well you know the economy collapsed
yeah we hit rock bottom but hey you know
we're still here right appear to be yeah
and you know we were in denial about so
many some of these problems back then
but now you know they dominate the
headlines you know global warming and
you know nuclear proliferation stuff
like that people are beginning to get
aware of some of these things and so I
think that that's going to be good and
you know democracy is spreading because
of the Internet look at Arab Spring and
look at the spread of democracy because
of the internet and democracies do not
war with other democracies you know
think of every war that you've learned
since you were in grade school and
they've always been between kings queens
emperors and dictators but never between
two democracies and so as the internet
spreads democracies democracies don't
war with other democracies and so I
think we will have wars in the future
but they're going to be less wars less
ferocious and less common as the spread
of democracy takes hold the big loser in
all this I think are dictatorships
dictatorships thrive on the ignorance of
their own people and I think the you
know to be a dictators to be in
species I would have to agree I mean
recent history certainly proves that
right so that's what that glimmer of
hope I'm not quite as pessimistic as I
was before
I see the spread of democracy people are
becoming more aware of these problems
and democracies debate these problems
and they confront them and they don't
work with each other that's optimism all
right by the way what about the little
trips that we've had along the way I
mean you know big earthquakes nuclear
reactors going bonkers yeah well it's
not clear that we are going to make it I
mean look at the Fukushima right that's
a disaster that no one predicted three
simultaneous meltdowns you realize at
the core at the Fukushima liquefied
we've never seen liquification of a
nuclear reactor core before actually was
three M right three of them right three
like applications of molten uranium and
II realized that we still have not
controlled it they could spiral out of
control any day a small little
earthquake and the reactor accident
starts up all over again does your whole
tide right there
