In the future, humans may no longer have a need for physical forms. We’ll be able to explore different multiverses and manipulate time itself. These are just a few of the perks of a Type VI civilization.
Currently, we’re a measly Type 0 civilization. So, if we were to make the first leap on the scale to Type I, we’d need to fully harness all the energy resources available to us on Earth.
Going up to Type II, we’d extend our metaphorical extension cord all the way out to the Sun. And that would mean much more than just collecting the solar power that reaches Earth. We’d be harnessing all the energy of the Sun and Solar System.
At the third stage, Type III, humanity would now have the ability to control all the energy available to us from the billions of stars and black holes in our galaxy.
This might seem crazy enough, but we’re just getting started. Once we became Type IV and V civilization, humanity would be able to control all the power available to us throughout the entire Universe and beyond.
What comes next seems even more impossible to comprehend.
Looking at what would happen if we became a Type VI civilization requires you to fundamentally transform what you think you understand about the nature of reality. At this point, we wouldn’t just be manipulating energy and matter but also the fabric of space and time.
And we wouldn’t just be controlling multiple universes. We would also be able to create or destroy entire universes at will. You would have god-like powers at your fingertips.
Time would no longer be something we’d think of as flowing in only one direction. Instead of looking at it like a river, it would now be a sea that we could explore freely.
You could travel back in time to witness the birth of stars, the formation of the galaxies, and the very creation of the Universe. And it would be as fast and simple as blinking your eyes.
And if you could control time and create your own universes, then, of course, you could determine exactly what happens in them as well.
So, in your universal sandbox, there could be one world where you are the supreme leader, another with all kinds of animals that have never existed, and maybe one where money really does grow on trees. Not that money would mean anything to you.
With this enormous and purely theoretical amount of power, what would it even mean to be human anymore?
First of all, you would look quite different. You wouldn’t have much use for your body anymore. With the technology of a Type VI civilization, you could equip your body with all the most incredibly advanced artificial intelligence tools imaginable. But that’s just the beginning.
You might exist as pure energy and consciousness – without flesh and bone. You could take on whatever form you desire. You and every other human would truly be gods.
However, being this advanced would bring up a handful of ethical dilemmas. For one, if you were omnipotent, you’d have to develop new social skills with all the other omnipotent beings of the universe. Keeping secrets would be pretty much impossible.
And no doubt, as you navigated through multiple universes, you’d come across at least a couple of civilizations that would be much less advanced than ours. And there would need to be some kind of protocol for how to engage with them in a humane way.
Especially if you could create and destroy universes at will. This would be a great power that truly requires great responsibility.
You would be able to design new lifeforms from scratch and guide them through their evolution – just as our species once experienced. If you were to wipe those same species out in an instant, it would raise enormous moral questions.
