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  Technology
   
   Tools are used to adapt, change, or control an environment. Tool-using cultures are 
  groups of beings (not necessarily sophonts) with the ability to find or make tools. But, 
  using tools is not enough: 
   
  Technology is the ability to use tools to make other tools. 
   
   When societies make the leap to using tools to make tools, they become 
  technological. Technology builds on the successes of earlier tool-making experiences, 
  and progresses to ever higher levels. 
   
   Many beings (not necessarily sophonts) make and use tools. Technological cultures make the leap to intelligence when they 
  discover how to use tools to make other, more sophisticated, tools. 
   
  UNDERSTANDING TECHNOLOGY 
   Technology’s value is three-fold: 
   A person using technology can do more (often much more) 
  than a similar person not using technology. Technology is a 
  labor multiplier. 
   A person using technology can achieve higher quality 
  (often much higher) than a similar person not using 
  technology. Technology enhances quality. 
   A person using technology can create objects or results 
  which are impossible without the use of technology. 
  Technology can achieve impossibilities. 
   
  Defining Tools 
   Tools are defined very broadly. They are the objects by 
  which sophonts manipulate the universe. 
   A hammer is a tool for construction. A communicator is a 
  tool for information exchange. A hazmat suit is a tool for 
  safely handling hazardous materials. 
   Tools and Tools^2. Because technology is the use of 
  tools to make tools, a special term is required: tools^2 (in 
  place of the longer and more tedious term tool-making tools.) 
   Tools Shape Us. A technological society is shaped by the 
  tools it makes and uses. A society with efficient biological 
  tools becomes focused on biological structures and 
  concentrates its research and output on biological machines. 
   
  DESCRIBING TECHNOLOGY 
   Technology is classified by Technological Level (or Tech 
  Level, or TL): each TL represents a significant increase in the 
  capabilities of the previous TL. 
   Powers of 10. Each TL represents a combined order of 
  magnitude increase in capability (measured across the three 
  measures of technology: labor enhancement, quality 
  improvement, and achievement of impossibilities). 
   Technological Levels. Technological Levels are 
  numbered on a theoretically open ended scale beginning with 
  Zero and extending through 15 and higher. At much higher 
  levels, technology becomes incomprehensible to much lower 
  levels. 
   
  For example, 
   The Tech Level for an object is often appended to an 
  object name. Rifle-5 is a tech level 5 firearm. Comm-10 is a 
  tech level 10 communicator. 
   Tech Level is often used to describe a world or a society. 
  Regina (the world) is TL-10. The Aslan Colonies which span 
  the Great Rift are TL-12. 
   
  There Are Alternatives To Technology 
   There are non-technological activities which can achieve 
  the results of technology. Social groups with poor access to 
  tools (abyssal societies with limited access to fire; hydrogen 
  societies with limited access to solid objects; those with 
  clumsy manipulators; swimmers and aquatic cultures) may 
  develop alternative or non-technological cultures. 
   Cultures. Some societies use Culture (the norms of 
  behavior for a society) as a substitute for technology. A 
  culture that expects higher labor output per individual, or 
  greater attention to quality, or even spontaneous response to 
  challenges is substituting cultural imperatives for technology. 
   Disciplines. Some individuals adopt disciplines which 
  increase their efficiency or improve their output quality. 
  Members of a martial arts discipline are more effective 
  (efficient) because of their devotion to its principles. 
   Geneering. Some species develop the ability to alter their 
  own genetics. These altered individuals become tool-
  substitutes. The Pseudo-Technological Hypothesis 
  remains unsettled: If a geneering culture creates a being (a 
  tool) which can then create other and different geneered 
  beings (other tools), does that meet the definition of 
  technology? 
   Parasitism or Symbiosis. Some sophonts are themselves 
  unable to use tools: they attach themselves to hosts (sophont 
  tool users). The parasites themselves are not tool users, but 
  may achieve the benefits of technology through their hosts. 
   
  Nevertheless 
   The vast majority of sophont cultures throughout the 
  universe (90% of sophont cultures; 99% of sophont cultures 
  reaching beyond their own homeworld) are technological.
  
   
  TECHNOLOGICAL LEVEL STAGES 
   
   
  Tech Level Stages 
   A Tech Level shows devices that an industry with available tools can manufacture, 
  maintain, and use. Tech Levels are an inexact approximation: they shade into earlier 
  and later TLs. Such gradations are expressed as Stages. Tech Level Stages describe 
  locations in the long term cycle of technological development. For example, 
   Experimental is handmade by inventors excited about the potential of a new 
  technology, usually one-of-a-kind, and often dangerous and unreliable. 
   Prototype is the first step before early mass production. There are perhaps a dozen 
  examples of any one prototype. 
   Early is the first mass-produced design, before the technology has been completely 
  refined.  
   Basic is a cheaper, bulkier, less-featured version of the standard item. 
   Standard is the version with the expected features for the technology when it is 
  mature and stable. 
   Alternate is a rethinking of the application of technology, often emphasizing different 
  results or outputs. 
   Improved is the implementation of additional features. 
   Modified is a specialized version created in response to specific needs.. 
   Generic is an equivalent to the standard version produced at lower cost using higher 
  tech level manufacturing capabilities. 
   Advanced has significant capabilities added. 
   Ultimate implements significant improvements learned over the life cycle of the 
  product. Beyond Ultimate is new technology.  
  UNDERSTANDING TL STAGES 
   Analyze a common type of device 
  (a car, a rifle, an entertainment 
  system, a communicator) by 
  assigning it TL Stages and visualize 
  precisely what each Stage means. 
   
    
  Stage Device Device 
    Experimental Car 
  Rifle 
    
  Prototype Car 
  Rifle 
    
  Early Car 
  Rifle 
    
  Basic Car 
  Rifle 
    
  Standard Car 
  Rifle 
    
  Alternate Car 
  Rifle 
    
  Improved Car 
  Rifle 
    
  Modified Car 
  Rifle 
    
  Generic Car 
  Rifle 
    
  Advanced Car 
  Rifle 
    
  Ultimate Car 
  Rifle 
   
   
   
  TECH LEVEL STAGE EFFECTS 
   
  TL 
  Stage 
   
  Q 
  R 
  E 
  B 
  S 
  Comments 
   
  -2 
  Experimental 
   
  F - 2 - 3  +3 - 3 One of a kind. Lesser capabilities. Much heavier. Very costly. 
   
  -1 
  Prototype 
   
  F - 2 - 2  +2 - 2 One of very few. Lesser capabilities. Heavier. Costly. 
   
  -1 
  Early  
   
  F  
  - 1  +1 - 1 Lesser capabilities. Heavy. Costly. 
   
  0 
  Standard 
   
  F  
   
   
   
  Typical of available models. 
   
  0 
  Basic 
   
  F  
   
  +1  
  Heavier. Cheaper. 
   +1 
  Alternate 
   
  F  
   
   
   
  Some different capabilities. 
   +1 
  Improved 
   
  F +2  +2  
   
  Some improved capabilities. Greater Ease of Use. 
   +2 
  Modified 
   
  F  
  +1  
  +1 Lighter. 
   +2 
  Generic  
   
  F  
   
   
   
  Functionally equivalent to Standard, but cheaper. 
   +3 
  Advanced 
   
  F +2 +2  - 2 +2 Lighter. Added capabilities. 
   +4 
  Ultimate  
   
  F +2 +3  - 2 +3 Lighter. Most effective. Costlier. 
  F= Flux (the value may vary depending on the manufacturer). 
  
   
  DECIMAL TECH LEVELS 
   Any Tech Level can be subdivided into decimal sublevels 
  to highlight or rank differences.  
   Historical Differences. Decimal Tech Levels allows a 
  greater understanding of the historical relationships between 
  devices. Tech Level 1 is filled with inventions and decimal 
  levels help rank them. 
   Situational Differences. Objects within a TL may differ in 
  their sophistication. Detailed comparisons of objects at a 
  specific TL may call for decimal levels. Some Stages of 
  objects represent differences of less than a full TL and 
  decimal levels may be appropriate. 
   
  LEAPS IN TECHNOLOGY 
   The steady increase in Technological Levels is punctuated 
  by occasional Leaps: major advances that introduce new 
  concepts. The effects of such leaps are felt for many levels to 
  follow. 
   TL-1. Using Tools To Make Tools. By far, the greatest 
  technological leap is the first one: the increase from TL-0 to 
  TL-1. The culture, which already uses simple tools (rocks; 
  clubs) discovers the ability to use them to make other, more 
  sophisticated tools. 
   TL-4. Division of Labor and Mass Production. The 
  invention (or the discovery) of division of labor and mass 
  production marks the transition from individual craftsmen to 
  relatively unskilled labor. Objects show a significant increase 
  in labor efficiency and an increase in quality. 
   TL-7. Processors. The widespread availability of 
  information processors and integrated electronic circuits 
  makes possible sophisticated devices which supplant tedious 
  sophont thought processes.  
   TL-10. Gravity Manipulation. The development of 
  practical gravity manipulation and its associated 
  transportation systems revolutionize travel and the movement 
  of goods. 
   TL-13. Effective Biological Sciences. Cloning, 
  supplemented by forced-growth processes, makes geneering 
  possible. 
   TL-16. Artificial Persons. The widespread availability of 
  artificial persons, including practical robots, artificial 
  intelligence in computers, and self-aware mechanisms 
  replaces sophonts in most non-creative activities. 
   TL-19. Matter Transport. The availability of elemental 
  matter portals (transporting raw materials across Au 
  distances efficiently) transforms concepts of physical value. 
   TL-22. Individual Transformations. The lines between 
  individuals blur as bodies become customizable, replaceable, 
  and disposable. 
   TL-25. Psionic Engineering. Technological tools based 
  on psionic principles revolutionize communications and 
  manufacturing. 
   TL-28. Stellar Scale Physical Manipulation. Technology 
  develops capabilities to manipulate worlds and stars. 
   TL-31. Pocket Universes. The ability to create and 
  manipulate pocket universes infinitely expands available 
  resources and turns all but the most adventurous inward. 
  Includes reality manipulation.  
   TL-33. The Technological Singularity.  
   
  AN INEXACT PROGRESSION 
   The Technological Scale ranks technology; it does not 
  define how far a society will go, or how fast it will progress. 
   Technological progress is often (as here) presented as a 
  linear sequence: a steady progression from TL-5 to TL-6 to 
  TL-7.  
   The reality is far more complex: 
   
  Societies Are Contaminated By Other Technologies. 
   Unless a society develops in true isolation, it absorbs other 
  technologies as it encounters them. There is no Prime 
  Directive: no external rules that protects developing 
  technologies from interference. Individuals and companies 
  are free to sell technology to any markets that will buy it.  
   The result is that societies have a wide range of available 
  technologies: imported devices, local adaptations, crude 
  imitations, and even local alternatives. Once a society knows 
  something is possible (because a visiting star captain had a 
  working device), it can attempt to duplicate it. 
   
  Not All Technological Societies Advance 
   Technology does not mandate advancement. Societies 
  may adopt enough technology to meet their needs and then 
  be content with stability. 
   A culture which values reproduction (at a non-conscious, 
  genetic level) may discover technological means of 
  enhancing reproduction, leading to overpopulation leading to 
  societal and technological collapse.  
   A pleasure-seeking culture may advance in some areas 
  but ignore technology which does not advance its pursuit of 
  hedonism. 
   Some cultures value social stability: technology that 
  disrupts society may be banned or suppressed. 
   
  Not All Technological Societies Survive 
   Technology does not mandate survival. A society may 
  faces challenges which overwhelm its tech level. Or 
  technology may itself destroy a society. 
   Plague or disaster can wipe out a society whose 
  Technological level is insufficiently advanced. 
   A violent culture may discover nuclear weapons and 
  destroy itself (or follow cycles of development and 
  regression). 
   An irresponsible culture may adopt nuclear power without 
  sufficient safeguards, or genetic modifications or 
  industrialization without considering the long-range 
  consequences. 
   
  Not All Technological Societies Prosper 
   Technology does not guarantee prosperity or quality of life.  
   An oppressive society may depend on technology to 
  maintain its domination of the population. 
   A culture may concentrate its technology (for reasons 
  incomprehensible outside of that culture) in areas other than 
  the general welfare: in strange or useless or peripheral 
  activities that do not improve or advance society in general. 
   
  THE PARADIGM SHIFTS 
   There are a very few significant technological 
  advancements that most societies never discover. These 
  paradigm shifts are concepts that require such a profound 
  change in basic understandings of principles that they are 
  discovered only phenomenal genius, or phenomenal luck. 
   The total number of possible paradigm shifts is unknown 
  but probably very small. Three known examples are: 
   
   Jump Drive. Jump Drive technology enables a ship to 
  transition into Jump Space and emerge some great distance 
  away within a reasonable time, effectively multiples of 170 
  times the speed of light. 
   Jump drive makes interstellar flight practical. 
   
  
   
   Fusion Plus. Fusion Plus (or cold fusion or Fusion+ or F+) 
  produces an efficient (very little waste heat) energy output 
  through catalyzed fusion of hydrogen.  
   Cold fusion disconnects ordinary activity from the cost of 
  energy. 
   Cold fusion is distinguished from Fusion by its small size: 
  Fusion is suitable for large multi-kiloton installations; Fusion 
  Plus is a small, relatively portable installation suitable for 
  vehicles and homes. 
   
   Reality Manipulation. Reality engineering allows editing of 
  reality on a real-time basis: manipulation of physical laws, 
  and revision or reversal of event flow. 
   
   The Favored Society Effect. A very few (one in a 
  thouand) societies independently make a paradigm shift at 
  the proper time to discover one of the crucial technological 
  advances. These favored, fortunate societies gain in two 
  ways: they have an important technological principle that 
  gives them power over their less fortunate neighbors, and the 
  discovery imparts to their collective self-image a level of 
  confidence or self-esteem that makes them to a dominant 
  position in interstellar society. 
   For example, the discovery of Jump Drive by the Vilani (at 
  a time when all of its neighbors were using NAFAL Not-As-
  Fast-As-Light drives) gave them a technological advantage 
  and reinforced their own self-image as the natural rulers of 
  interstellar space. They used their discovery to found an 
  empire that lasted five thousand years. 
   The Favored Society Effect Inverse. Many societies send 
  out expeditions to the stars and find the universe is already 
  settled. Some societies are visited by starfarers bringing new 
  technology and the implied message that the stars are home 
  to better, stronger, superior cultures. Most such societies 
  retreat to their own territories, content to rule their homeworld 
  and focus inward. 
   When the Kisthdra first ventured beyond their system in 
  NAFAL ships, the crews returned home aboard Vilani 
  starliners. The realization that the stars had already been 
  conquered, and belonged to someone else, crushed the 
  collective spirit of Kisthdra society: they rarely venture 
  beyond their world even now. 
   
   The result is interstellar domination by a favored few 
  sophonts, and many worlds each home to a unique race and 
  its own introspective interests. 
   
  THE TECHNOLOGICAL SINGULARITY 
   Technology builds on technology. Each Tech Level is built 
  on the previous ones. 
   Technological knowledge increases exponentially. 
  Each Tech Level represents an expanding body of 
  knowledge: many of the advances increase the rate at which 
  new advances can be made. 
   Technological progress accelerates. The time between 
  technological levels decreases, assuming a large population 
  working on technology sufficient resources being devoted to 
  it, and assuming the cultures involved care about advancing 
  technology. 
   
  There Is A Maximum 
   Ultimately, the tool-making tools of technology surpass the 
  capabilities of the sophonts who use them. Computers may 
  surpass sophonts in intelligence, and more importantly, in 
  sophont-like insights. Computer interfaces may raise the 
  abilities of sophonts to new levels. Geneering and medical 
  science may increase the intelligence and talents of sophonts 
  to a degree that accelerates technological advance. 
   
  TL-Z = 
  The Technological Singularity= 
  TL-33 
   
   The Technological Singularity. There is an endpoint in 
  the TL scale where tools become self-replicating, self-
  improving, and panscient (all skillful). With these features in 
  place, technology becomes meaningless and is no longer an 
  applicable term. 
   At the Technological Singularity, everything is possible: 
  tools^2 respond to virtually all needs without discernible 
  delay. 
   For example, as a society advances beyond TL-24 and 
  approaches TL-Z, technology provides everything, in high 
  quality, on demand, to everyone in the society. Robots or 
  sophontoids do all the work; artificial intelligences manage all 
  of society’s systems; individuals can choose any number of 
  entertainments or challenges, learn or access most of the 
  knowledge of the universe, do anything, experience anything, 
  do anything, and all without risk, and strangely enough, 
  without challenge of reward. At that point, sophonts must 
  either grow, or die. Various societies choose various options, 
  but in every circumstance: 
   The Technological Singularity is Unstable. The features 
  and the abilities of the Technological Singularity promote any 
  number of consequences, all of which lead to changes that 
  end the Technological Singularity. 
   Some consequences are: 
   ; Society transcends technology advancing to metaphysical 
  pursuits which transcend the physical plane. 
   ; Society retreats to a simple, non-technological pastoral 
  existence. 
   ; Society collapses from the strain. It loses its high tech 
  tools and begins the cycle of technological development 
  again. 
   ; Society fragments; some factions transcend; others 
  retreat; still others struggle to maintain or reacquire the TS. 
   
  The Single Example of a Technological Singularity 
   History recognizes one period in which the Technological 
  Singularity was approached (if not actually achieved). 
   
   Insert your guess here. _______________. 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Traveller/09 - Traveller5/Traveller5/T5 Underlying PDFs/T5=7100 Technology.pdf