Michio Kaku's Contradiction and Conspiracy

Okay, Most know Michio Kaku's 3 Type's of Alien Civilizations. Described as follows:

Kaku defines a Type 1 civilization as one that is truly a planetary society, who has mastered all forms of terrestrial energy. Their energy output is much greater than ours. It would take at least 3,200 years to reach Type 2.

A Type 2 civilization is a civilization who have an energy output of a small star. They would be so advanced that they could build a sphere around their planet to maximize their energy output.

A Type 3 civilization is so advanced that they have begun colonizing other star systems. Their energy output is massive compared to ours. A civilization this advanced would be able to bend space and time at will. They would probably be capable of interdimensional travel and even time travel.

Now, in 2007 when asked what type we are, he responded:

Well, we are Type 0. We still get our energy from dead plants. Pretty pathetic, if you ask me. I could only imagine what an advanced alien civilizations thinks of us. With our racism, wars, and class struggles we will be luck if we ever get to a Type 1. At the current rate, in my opinion the human race is Headed Toward Extinction.

Interesting, Hear that, headed for Extinction and'll be lucky to reach Type 1. Yet, just a year and a half after declaring we are headed for extinction he say's we are but 100 years from becoming a Type 1 Civilization.
(Interview here:www.veoh.com...)

Now, remember a Type 1 civilization means "mastering terrestrial energy"

Why would such an intelligent man have such a rash, unfounded change of heart?
He wouldn't, unless he knew something we didn't.
What he knows?
No clue, however, I found it also interesting that after achieving all of his credentials he was drafted into the US Army. What he did for the Army is unknown, however he was quoted as disliking "Hiding in foxholes for the US Army". But his Bio says the war ended before he got out of Basic Training, so why would be hiding in foxholes and why would an accredited scientist who co-founded the String Theory be drafted as anything other than Intelligence.
No answers for you Just Fact's and Question's. I'd love to hear how other members feel about him.





[edit on 23-8-2010 by ATLien]

interesting. I think I've heard this guy talk about the alien civilization types in a rap song before. maybe Beast1333?

anyways, maybe he has "seen the light" so to speak. i wouldn't consider this a contradiction though. all he did was change his opinion about our progress 1 year later. he probably saw things that he thought didn't exist 1 year before.

who knows?

When talking about this type of thing, classes of civilizations, it is easy to poke fun at where the human race is at right now but at the same time very easy to recognize that we are very close to class 1.

How was the tone of each interview? Could you post those please...

Originally posted by prepared4truth
interesting. I think I've heard this guy talk about the alien civilization types in a rap song before. maybe Beast1333?

anyways, maybe he has "seen the light" so to speak. i wouldn't consider this a contradiction though. all he did was change his opinion about our progress 1 year later. he probably saw things that he thought didn't exist 1 year before.

who knows?

True, but to change from Lucky If Ever" to "100 Years" is a pretty big change none-the-less.

I take it to mean that he sees our technologies advancing and evolving at rates that in technological terms he can see us reaching type 1 status in a century.

But as a species, he can also at the same time see how our murderous and reckless natures can wipe humanity off the face of the planet all too easily.

I don't see it as a contradiction at all.

reply to post by ATLien


well you know some people say time is speeding up for us

the masses are getting close to being type 1. I think that behind the scenes we have been type 1 for a while now. all we need is disclosure, unless you personally know someone who has contributed to an invention that "we" don't know about.

and nice point Chamberf=6

[edit on 23-8-2010 by prepared4truth]

Don't really have a link at the moment but I saw a thread floating around that said something about nations of the world coming together to work on new fusion technologies. Perhaps this what gave Kaku his change of heart.


thoughts?

reply to post by jacktherer


It may be closer than 100 years...
2nd line

Originally posted by The Endtime Warrior
reply to post by jacktherer

 

It may be closer than 100 years...
2nd line

that'd be nice. i'd love to see it in my lifetime

Carbon based life forms will be replaced by A.I. and silicone...

Processing power of computer's will surpass the human brain in MAX 50 years... Add nano tech and A.I evolution to that.....

Human are not immortal until they can digitally "back up" their consciousness...

Who knows maybe we will make another SIM for us to live in....

reply to post by ATLien


Clarification point: Kaku is not the origin of these levels of technological civilizations. It was a Russian scientist by the name of Kardashev back around 1960. (Sagan played around with these levels after Kardashev.)

I see nothing the man really said is much different than his former view. He has merely looked at the situation on two levels. One way is purely about technical prowess, a solely (no pun intended) scientific viewpoint. The other is a more humane outlook--which is what it is going to take for us to survive at any level from minus zero to what ever level you can envision.

First: It is not Kaku's description. It is Nikolai Kardashev's description .

Second: A Type I civilization has not just "mastered all forms of terrestrial energy". A Type I civilization has the ability to harness all of the power available on a single planet. This includes using all of the sunlight which strikes the planet. We are far from being able to do that. 100 years? Maybe.

A Type II civilization is able to harness all of the power of a star. This would involve constructing a means to "enclose" an entire solar system.

A Type III civilization is able to harness all of the power of an entire galaxy.

The Type 1, 2 and 3 categories of civilizations was not devised by Kaku, it's known as the Kardashev scale, first proposed back in the 1960's by Russian astronomer Nikolai Kardashev.

As for Kaku's change of heart on this subject, well, I can't speak for him and one statement technically doesn't cancel out the other - Kaku might well feel that we are unlikely to survive the next 100 years as a species. The other possibility is that in the first statement we caught him in a particularly pessimistic mood. It happens to the best and brightest of us. H.G. Wells, who first proposed (which is to say warned against) the atomic bomb in one of his books, long before it was ever built - and unwittingly inspired the development of it, as well - went to his grave not long after World War II thinking that there would soon be another world war that would wipe out civilization, if not humanity. He was often both very optimistic and pessimistic about such things, just as any of us can be. Why should Kaku be any different?

If/when we achieve sustainable fusion-based power, we will soon reach Type 1 status - once we get the whole world wired. It will safely, cleanly and cheaply power the world for as long we can really even fathom at this point. Presently, all our energy usage is very wasteful. Hitting the fusion age will be about as revolutionary as the invention of farming, the harnessing of steam power or the computer age. It's our next big step forward.

[edit on 8/23/2010 by LifeInDeath]

reply to post by LifeInDeath


Dear LifeInDeath

I one 100% agree there is no contradiction there at all.

He says we might be there in 100 years if we make it that far.

The way we are going we will not make it that far. But if we do we will be in the type 1 club.

More so, who cares about how he sees the human race? We are all entitled to our own opinions, nay?

More so, who cares about how he sees the human race? We are all entitled to our own opinions, nay?

If I had to guess, I would say that Dr. Kaku's change of heart is not so much a contradiction or epiphany as it is an orchestrated revision of history. Think of it as an update to his firmware so to speak.

Proclaiming that we are well on our way to puttering around the Universe along side our galactic brotheren sells a lot more books and garners a lot more television viewers than poo-pooing any future we have as a species.

I used to have MASSIVE respect for Dr. Kaku. Growing up and residing in the NYC area for much of my life, I had the priveledge of sitting in on some of MK's lectures, and was a loyal listener of his weekly radio program. Hell, he was even one of the first people I ever friended on Facebook. However, I have come to view him as somewhat of a caricature of himself.

Let's be honest...you cannot go 2 hours on TLC, Discovery, Science Channel, etc without seeing his mug. How many programs can one man host??? He is like the Rachel Ray of Physics. Sadly, I believe this once great intellectual hero has succumbed to the almighty Nielsen Rating.

Just the two cents of a former major fan.

I think he does know something is up as well. I mean his body language just seems uneasy when this guy talks about planet X to Kaku. Kaku states there is no such thing, but the body language doesn't lie. He just seems nervous and agitated talking about the subject.

But he is right though and I believe we would be lucky to reach type 1 civilization the rate we are going.

reply to post by vimanarider


I used to hear this argument in the late 80's and early 90's, with regard to music. With respect, it's not an argument I give a lot of credit to.

Kaku, like anyone with influence, has two choices: He can stay off the radar and focus on whatever floats his boat, or he can use his influence to shape discussion and policy. We live in an interconnected world, where TV "edutainment" meets the world wide web meets the evening news. Personally, I am digging that he has "spread his influence" a bit. He -- more than any other popular physicist -- has helped turn my son on to science in a huge way (he's 8).

I don't know whether or not we will reach type 1 in 100 years, but I do know this: The world needs more Michio Kaku's.

[edit on 24-8-2010 by 0zzymand0s]

he is a globist.he said all those who oppose this are terrorists.
literally
www.youtube.com...


[edit on 24-8-2010 by testsavage]