Re:Type III Societies (Apparently) Do Not Exist
by duaneb on Thursday April 28, 2016 @03:54PM
(#11591485)
> It's more likely that beyond a certain point you have all the energy you can use, and the limiting factor becomes collective intelligence.
Why is this more likely?
Re:Type III Societies (Apparently) Do Not Exist
by tremon on Thursday April 28, 2016 @04:19PM
(#11591617)
My off-the-cuff response is that energy could be harvested locally in many places, but society as a whole will be bounded by the speed of communication (which might not exceed c). It's possible that too long communication lines will fracture society into separate "islands".
Re:Type III Societies (Apparently) Do Not Exist
by venomsnake on Thursday April 28, 2016 @04:09PM
(#11591571)
I think that energy is not a limiting factor but rough measurement on your impact on the universe.
It's more likely that beyond a certain point you have all the energy you can use, and the limiting factor becomes collective intelligence.
I'd guess that in the same way that processors keep getting more efficient, so do civilisations. At the highest levels the energy signature of a civilisation is virtually indistinguishable from the cosmic microwave background - if it's observable at all.