How many maximized sentient minds does progress take? These aren’t real answers, just food for the thought experiment.

  • 1 million - fire
  • 50 million -
  • 100 million - agriculture
  • 500 million -
  • 1 billion - calculus
  • 50 billion - electricity
  • 100 billion - quantum mechanics (we are roughly here)
  • 500 billion - reactionless propulsion
  • 1 trillion - strong AI
  • 50 trillion - cold fusion
  • 100 trillion - biological immortality
  • 500 trillion - molecular fabrication
  • 1 quadrillion - matterenergy manipulation
  • 50 quadrillion - spacetime manipulation
  • 100 quadrillion -
  • 500 quadrillion -
  • 1 quintillion (1squint or 1SQ) - manipulation of the universe’s fundamental physical constants