<i>I think you take a particularly narrow view of what constitutes a &quot;society&quot;. Arguably, current human society is the product of over 10,000 years of continuous development. Yes, there have been numerous changes in structure and power, but our fundamental &quot;human&quot; identity hasn&#x27;t really changed in that time.</i><p>Sounds like you are the one who has a narrow view of &quot;society,&quot; rather. In the abstract, it only need be something like &quot;a multitude of cooperating but competing, independent self-preserving, self-advocating sentient interests.&quot; That&#x27;s fairly abstract while still being a sure recipe for highly non-linear and chaotic effects.<p><i>Even if we do not reach type-III, that does not necessarily preclude Earth from producing a type-III society in the future.</i><p>But then you&#x27;re setting up a situation where a series of chaotic and unstable arrangements snuff themselves out or flare-out in a puff of singularity-colored smoke, ending with the appearance of the first stable meta-societal form.