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"Civilization" is an abstract concept, but we can look at it from the perspective of "energy".
The degree of development of civilization is closely related to its energy level: the porcelain of ancient China and the ceramics of Ru kiln in ancient China can be inferred that coal was the main energy source in ancient China.
Similarly, the era of fossil fuels was higher than that of firewood and grass, and there were also water and wind power as the driving force before coal was burned, which shows that the energy level of human beings at that time was not low.
How much energy is needed for the development of civilization to realize the development and utilization of all resources in the solar system, including the anchor sun, and how much time does it take?
1. Civilization level.
British physicist Nicolas Dyson proposed the concept of a "Dyson sphere" in 1960, which is a huge structure with a shell about the diameter of the Earth's orbit, and this structure is a giant structure centered on a star.
Dyson believes that the development of civilization requires energy, and the energy used by a star can far exceed the total amount of earth and man-made energy, so how much energy a civilization can control can be representative of its civilization level.
In Dyson's view, if a civilization can only use the energy on its planet, then it is only a level 0 civilization, such as humans on Earth; If a civilization can use the energy of the entire planet, then it is a level 1 civilization, and on Earth, coal and oil mines are used as cremation fuel, but the only thing that can compete with the entire energy source is sunlight.
If a civilization can harness the energy of an entire star, then it is a level 2 civilization, and the large-scale energy users of the universe are level 3 civilizations.
As far as we humans are concerned, the level of civilization is about 0.73, because we are not a level 1 civilization, but we are not a level 0 civilization, so we are a level 0.73 civilization.
Of course, we can also define the energy level of civilization in more detail: if a civilization can domesticate fire, then it is a 0.1 civilization, and the domestication of fossil fuels such as electricity, coal and oil after the industrial revolution can make humans reach level 0.7, while the civilization that uses nuclear energy is a level 0.8 civilization, and the civilization that uses 0.9 is a civilization that continuously uses solar energy.
The Dyson sphere is a means of making civilization more advanced, and if you can build a Dyson sphere with a radius of about half the radius of the Earth's orbit, then it will have a surface of light radiation that is 10 times the brightness of the sun.
This surface of light radiation revolves around the sun, which continuously supplies energy to the inside of the Dyson sphere.
Therefore, the energy provided by the sun can be used inside the Dyson sphere, thus solving the problem of artificial suns generating electricity in galaxies without solar energy, and also providing energy for settlements in outer space.
The construction of the Dyson sphere requires a lot of materials, which can be obtained from planets or asteroids, so the Dyson sphere can be said to be a support system for the ultimate human society.
2. Population and energy.
As global energy demand continues to grow, fossil fuel stocks are likely to be depleted by the middle of this century, so human society is facing an energy problem.
Whether it is to maintain the operation of human society, or because energy is used in life and industrial activities, energy is an important support for human society.
Therefore, severe energy scarcity will directly affect the development of human society, so what kind of technology do we need to solve the energy problem?
The development of technology is not only a vertical process, it will also drive the development of other areas of society, and the progress of society needs energy as a support.
In the past, the main driving force for the development of human civilization was the energy obtained from animals and plants, and as the population increased, the number of energy dependents on the growth of the population.
There was a time before solar energy and other energy sources ran out, when population growth was limited by energy, but humanity has found a solution to this problem: new energy sources have been discovered.
Before the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, hydropower and wind power gradually became the main energy sources in people's lives, and fossil fuels took over these two energy sources as the main energy sources.
In 1798, the economist Malthus predicted the crisis of population explosion, arguing that the population would grow far faster than the growth rate of food.
At that time, there was already a recognition of the link between energy and population, so some people proposed a solution to the population problem through technology.
In fact, fossil fuels have solved the increase in human productivity, and human society has thus gotten rid of the problem of energy.
From this, we can see that energy and population are not only related in history, but also in today's society, there is also a correlation between energy and population, so science and technology are the main driving force for the development of human society.
In the 20th century, mankind first used nuclear energy technology, which is a very powerful energy source, which can control nuclear fission with nuclear fuel, so nuclear fission was used to make nuclear bombs and became a way to generate electricity on a large scale.
The Americans first used nuclear fission for power generation in 1951, and in 1939, the Italian Femicel proposed the use of nuclear fission for power generation when he discovered the physical phenomenon of nuclear fission.
After World War II, the United States was very strong in the field of nuclear technology, and as a result, there was more attention paid to the peaceful use of nuclear technology.
The first commercial nuclear reactor was built in the Soviet Union in 1954, so nuclear energy occupied an important place in the energy system at that time, because nuclear reactors, unlike fossil fuels, did not produce carbon dioxide, so they were more environmentally friendly than energy sources such as coal.
3. Solar energy.
In the 70s, scholars around the world began to focus on one source of energy: solar energy, and people began to try to use solar energy in their lives, but the results of this experiment were not good.
To a certain extent, the energy of solar energy has been neglected in the energy system of human society, therefore, many people believe that this energy source has no utilization value.
However, Dyson believes that solar energy is ideal for solving the energy problem: the sun's energy comes from the nuclear fusion process, which is a very safe process because it does not produce radioactive waste, and at the same time, the sun is not yet exhausted during our lifetime.
Dyson also made a simple calculation of solar energy: in 1950, the annual global energy consumption was about 1020 watts, and solar radiation at that time was about 136,000 times the global energy consumption, so it can be said that solar energy can solve the energy problem.
Dyson's idea has caused repercussions in the global energy community: Freeman Dyson, a famous American physicist, believes that solar energy is a kind of sustainable energy, which can provide energy for human society for billions of years; Scientists at the University of New Mexico in the United States began to study the theory of the Dyson sphere in 1978 and believed that this theory was feasible.
However, the full realization of this plan is very difficult: in order to build a Dyson sphere with a radius of about half the radius of the Earth's orbit, about 60 celestial masses of material are needed.
The material mined at close range is also used to support the gravity of the Dyson sphere itself, so more material is needed, which is a very big problem.
As a result, there are now plans to mine material closer to the Sun, and part of this is to dismantle Mercury.
However, with the current technology and resources, it may take 42,500 years to build the Dyson sphere, so how can we exploit the solar system?
In 2014, astronomers claimed to have discovered an irregular starlight 1,470 light-years away from Earth, and the reason for this starlight to become dim and bright is uncertain.
NASA scientists have suggested that this starlight change may be due to a Dyson sphere generating electricity around the star, causing its irregular starlight change.
epilogue
The realization of the Dyson sphere technology will have far-reaching implications for human history and the future, potentially changing our perception of energy and other galaxies, but also raising new moral and ethical questions.
The construction of the Dyson sphere may intensify international competition and geopolitics, and the development of Dyson sphere technology may also give rise to a new industrial chain and economic model, bringing new development opportunities to human society.
Therefore, how to balance the relationship between scientific and technological progress, resource utilization and environmental protection is an important issue for future development.