Abridged and modified version of
"Table 2" from the original paper
("The Possibility of Finding
Traces of Extraterrestrial
Intelligence on Asteroids",
The Journal of the
British Interplanetary Society,
Vol 51, pp. 175-179, May 1998).
Evolution of technical civilizations, an
explanation of the Fermi paradox.
| Development stages of the technical civilizations | Level 1 (planet dwellers) | Level 2 (asteroid dwellers) | Level 3 (interstellar travellers) | Level 4 (interstellar space dwellers) |
| General description | tech. civ. on the surface of a planet | tech. civ. in the interplanetary space | tech. civ. travelling between stars | tech. civ. in the interstellar space |
| Typical long-range transportation method | airplane, ship | interplanetary spaceship (small acceleration) | interstellar spaceship (limited range) | interstellar spaceship (unlimited range) |
| Material resources used | ores from the planet, organics from the biosphere | asteroids, extinct comet nuclei | like Level 2 and stocked materials during travels | interstellar dust, controlled fusion products? |
| Energy resources used | naturally conserved stellar energy (coal,oil,uranium) | direct sunshine (solar cells, solar furnaces) | like Level 2 and artificially conserved forms during travels (He3,antimatter?) | fusion of interstellar hydrogen, exotic resources? ("zero point energy") |
| Biological properties | adapted to planetary conditions (high air pressure, strong gravity, natural food resources) | adapted to space habitats (low air pressure, near-zero gravity, closed biological life support system) | like Level 2 and very long lifetime (or hybernation capability?), small-size closed life-support system, adapted to cosmic radiation | like Level 3, life support system integrated into their bodies? |
| Motivation for moving to the next level | exhaustion of resources, overpopulation | exhaustion of the easily utilisable resources (asteroids not too far from the star) | technological development, safety issues | ? (is there any higher level?) |
Copyright (c) 1995-2000 Mr. Csaba KECSKES, Budapest, Hungary