Russian astrophysicist Nicolai Kardashev is a hero of mine. He believed in a human future, in space.
In the 60s he defined what is now known as the Kardashev Scale:
Kardashev Level 1 - your civilisation uses all the resources of your home planet
Kardashev Level 2 - your civilisation uses all the resources of your home solar system
Kardashev Level 3 - your civilisation uses all the resources of your home galaxy
In 1999 I designed and published a board game called 6 Billion (our human global population was 6 Billion in 1999). I envisaged our civilisation of 6 billion humans advancing from a K-1 to a K-2 civilisation then...6 trillion humans live in our solar system, heading to the stars and eventually becoming the K-3 civilisation in our Milky Way galaxy.
http://members.optusnet.com.au/bnbg6billion/6billion.htm
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Image: Type 2 by Equilari, DeviantArt
