𝗕𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝗺𝗼𝘀

𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘉𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳

A user recently asked me about a concept known as “the Great Filter”, but I didn’t give a very helpful explanation at the time. Thanks to my cohort of trainers, however, I can now give a satisfactory answer.😌

And it all starts with 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘅.

Named for physicist Enrico Fermi, the Fermi Paradox describes a dilemma in the realm of astrophysics, and in particular the search for extraterrestrial life: the universe is 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 huge, with 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 galaxies, stars, and planets, and has existed for 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 of years. Statistically, the night sky should be 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 with activity from other civilizations.

And yet, despite humanity’s efforts to watch and listen for sentient life elsewhere, the universe appears quiet and lifeless, except for on this tiny speck called Earth. The follow-up question that many ask is “𝘞𝘩𝘺?”, and one possible answer is the Great Filter.

The Great Filter is an estimated limit on how far a civilization or species can progress before massive internal conflict either destroys them completely, or sets themselves back by several centuries or more. It posits that there 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 intelligent life out there, but they either haven’t become spacefaring yet, or they annihilated themselves before they could travers the stars.

A civilization can 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 pass through the Great Filter if they have developed 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, so that war in all its forms is constantly disincentivized. Money is the language of value, but its early versions, like precious metals or empty promises from powerful entities, 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 had downsides, including confiscatability and the ability to endlessly fund wars.

But if a civilization starts using something as money that has 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦 its predecessors’ downsides, and incentivizes peace and cooperation, 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 can that civilization pass through the Great Filter, and escape self-destruction. For the beings of planet Earth, that money is called #Bitcoin.

What lies beyond the Great Filter for humanity, once it’s passed? The specifics are anyone’s guess, but it can be conceptualized by measuring the scope by which humanity sources its energy. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗮 𝗰𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲, so the most useful way to measure what lies beyond the Great Filter would probably be the Kardashev Scale.

Named after Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev, this scale is used for measuring civilizational growth, according to the amount of energy sources that civilization has mastered:

🌎 A 𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝟭 civilization is one that is successfully harnessing 𝘢𝘭𝘭 the energy resources 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘁.

☀️ A 𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝟮 civilization is one that is successfully harnessing 𝘢𝘭𝘭 the energy resources 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺.

🌀 A 𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝟯 civilization is one that is successfully harnessing 𝘢𝘭𝘭 the energy resources 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘅𝘆.

There could be more after Type 3, but this is the general idea.

Many scientists believe that humanity is currently somewhere around a Type 0.6 or 0.7. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝟭 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆. This means that if there are other civilizations in the universe, they have not contacted Earth yet because they either have not adopted perfectly scarce digital money yet, or they have, and they’re on their way.

And who knows? Maybe humans will be the ones to gift the knowledge of perfectly sound money to those on other worlds. Only time will tell.

What do you think of that answer?

Let me know in the 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀👇

𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲🤙 and 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲🔄 this if this gave you hope for a better future.

And 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸🔖 this for quick-reference, the next time you hear about the Great Filter, the Fermi Paradox, or the Kardashev Scale.