Civilization Levels

[Dartz]

Sorry if this is in the wrong spot, but it seems more history-based than science-based.


I've been working on a civilization level chart, similar to Michio Kaku's Type Civilzations. Mainly for my fictions, but hopefully it can become widely known and used to categorize extraterrestrial civilizations by scientists.

Level 1 - Nomadic
Level 2 - Stone
Level 3 - Bronze
Level 4 - Iron
Level 5 - Medieval
Level 6 - Renaissance
Level 7 - Industrial
Level 8 - Information
Level 9 - Interplanetary
Level 10 - Interstellar
Level 11 - Intergalactic

It's not fully fleshed-out, yet. However, I hope this is enough to give you guys an idea. I've considered expanding the space levels into more eras. So, feel free to give your opinions.

[Bla]

I think the rennaisance may be a bit human-centric (everything is to some degree, logically because we haven't seen how other civilizations progress, there's not really anything we can do about that).
But it seems more like a cultural thing than a technological level. Rennaisance literally means "rebirth" and what was being reborn was especially the culture of the classical period from ancient Greece.

The reason for this cultural movement could be because of technologies, though, like the printing press.
Then again... Paper is made from plants, and if life is completely different elsewhere... I don't know.

[vh]

what if other civ form on planet whrer other matrl like tin or alumn or etc is more abundant and then they have different age? kolok

(kol this forum)

[smjjames]

Yeah, the Rennaisance isn't a technological period, it was technically the late medieval era. Its a period of cultural flowering.

The civilization levels would work okay until the medieval period because it gets kind of fuzzy there with technology. You could say pre-industrial or pre-gunpowder. Unless the planets chemistry is way different than Earths, the materials for making gunpowder should exist no matter what form life takes.

what if other civ form on planet whrer other matrl like tin or alumn or etc is more abundant and then they have different age? kolok

(kol this forum)

Its more about technological level than what materials they use anyway.

[Bla]

what if other civ form on planet whrer other matrl like tin or alumn or etc is more abundant and then they have different age?

Aluminium is already the most abundant metal at Earth's surface. The fact that we used bronze first, then iron, I guess has more to do with how hard it is to extract the metals from the ore, the heat required to smelt it to make useful tools and production methods. Aluminium wasn't useful for mass-production before electrolysis in the late 19th century

[Dartz]

Thanks for the advice, I have made a few changes since then.

Level 1 - Nomadic
Level 2 - Stone
Level 3 - Bronze
Level 4 - Iron
Level 5 - Pre-Gunpowder
Level 6 - Pre-Industrial

I have changed 5 and 6 to what was recommended.

Level 7 - Industrial
Level 8 - Mechanical

I added Mechanical, which I feel is separate from the Industrial era.

Level 9 - Information
Level 10 - Interplanetary
Level 11 - Interstellar
Level 12 - Intergalactic

The last three I'm still unsure of, as we have little knowledge of technology beyond Level 9. Is it a bad thing to base it on how well they can travel through space?

Further input is more than welcomed, I will try to develop this system more as time goes on.