January 7 - Four

There are many ways to measure the development of a civilization. The Kardashev scale, for instance, measures what portion of its home system a civilization is capable of exploiting. This is definitely capable of measuring the relative level of a society’s technological development, of course, but it tells very little about how it’s gotten there. The path it took, the things it prioritized, remain invisible. The Kardashev scale is traditionally a three-point scale (though many have extended it); our proposal has four. These four need not be acquired in order, though we will present them in the order our own civilization achieved them. 

First, Pestilence. The ability of a civilization to cure disease, to help its sick. The discovery of antibiotic substances can bring this horseman to its knees, but it takes much more to fully eliminate it: comprehensive healthcare, effective medical communication. Social infrastructure, in so many words. 

Second, Famine. The ability of a civilization to feed its most unfortunate. Many societies produce a tremendous excess of food, this much is well understood. The challenge then is all in the logistics, in the ability to distribute this food to everyone who needs it. This is, by and large, impossible under purely capitalist systems: someone must always be starving for capital to flow.

Third, War. The ability of a civilization to create a worldwide peace, and then maintain that peace. And the maintenance is key here: many worlds have times of peace, but they’re so often capable of falling back into war. 

Lastly, Death. The toughest challenge of all, the ability of a civilization to bypass death itself. This takes tremendous technical and medical insight, sure, but it needs more: it needs an elimination of violence, of accidents, of anything capable of destroying the ever-weak body.