Tools
The Kardashev scale
One way to rank a civilization is by the energy it can harness. Type I commands a planet, Type II a whole star, Type III a galaxy. Enter a power figure in watts to see the level, on the continuous version of the scale.
Kardashev level
0.00
We are not even Type I yet
On Carl Sagan's continuous formula, humanity sits around 0.7, not yet able to command the full energy of our own planet. Every leap up the scale is an enormous jump in energy, which is exactly why thought experiments about simulating universes reach for star-sized computers like the Matryoshka brain, the idea behind The Zero-Player Game. Energy is the ceiling on what any civilization, or any simulation, can do.