postsEnergy vs. IntelligenceDavid Watson · Sep 2, 2026Energy abundance against intelligence abundance for fourteen fictional universesA scatterplot. Each axis runs 1 to 10 with a divider at 4.5. Present-day Earth is marked at 3, 3. Universes that change over their series are drawn as arrows from their first work to their last; hovering or focusing one reveals the intermediate works.1122334455667788991010ENERGY RICHINTELLIGENCE POORENERGY RICHINTELLIGENCE RICHENERGY POORINTELLIGENCE POORENERGY POORINTELLIGENCE RICHINTELLIGENCE ABUNDANCEdeployable cognitive work per capitaENERGY ABUNDANCEusable energy per capita2026, you are hereMad Max: Mad Max (1979) → Fury Road (2015)Mad Max (1979) · intelligence 2, energy 2.5. Society is fraying but there are still cops, hospitals and petrol. Cars are cheap; knowledge is 1970s Australia.Mad Max (1979)Fury Road (2015) · intelligence 1, energy 1. Guzzoline is currency; knowledge is whatever the War Boys were told.Fury Road (2015)Mad Max2001: A Space Odyssey: 2001 (1968) → 3001: The Final Odyssey2001 (1968) · intelligence 3, energy 5. Pan Am to orbit, a Moon base, a crewed Jupiter mission. HAL is level-6 cognition, but a handful exist and one kills the crew; Earth is 1968 with videophones.2001 (1968)3001: The Final Odyssey · intelligence 6, energy 7. Space towers to orbit, inertia drives, a settled solar system. Everyone wears a Braincap: knowledge and skills download straight in.3001: The Final Odyssey2001: A Space OdysseyDune: Dune (1965) → God Emperor of Dune → Chapterhouse: DuneDune (1965) · intelligence 2, energy 6. Heighliners, shields and suspensors, held by a feudal handful. Thinking machines banned; Mentats are a rare elite.Dune (1965)God Emperor of Dune · intelligence 2, energy 4. Leto II's 3,500-year peace: travel forbidden, tech frozen, the median subject a villager under the Fish Speakers.God Emperor of DuneChapterhouse: Dune · intelligence 3, energy 7. After the Scattering: no-ships, Ixian machines, Tleilaxu axlotl tanks. Still no thinking machines, but the Ixians are edging up to the line.Chapterhouse: DuneDuneFoundation: Foundation (the Empire) → Foundation and Empire (the Mule) → Foundation and EarthFoundation (the Empire) · intelligence 2, energy 7. Trantor at the start of the decline. Hyperships and atomic power routine; no AI anywhere; science is an encyclopedia project.Foundation (the Empire)Foundation and Empire (the Mule) · intelligence 2.5, energy 6.5. The interregnum. The periphery has lost atomic power and the Foundation trades it like magic; the Empire is a rump.Foundation and Empire (the Mule)Foundation and Earth · intelligence 2.5, energy 8. The Foundation's federation has restored the trade lanes; Trevize flies a gravitic ship steered by thought. Gaia is one world, not the median.Foundation and EarthFoundationThe Expanse: Leviathan Wakes → Babylon's Ashes → Leviathan FallsLeviathan Wakes · intelligence 3.5, energy 6. The Epstein drive makes the system a neighbourhood even for broke Belters. Hand terminals and ship expert systems, no AGI.Leviathan WakesBabylon's Ashes · intelligence 3.5, energy 7. The ring gates are open: 1,300 systems to settle, and a war over who controls the door.Babylon's AshesLeviathan Falls · intelligence 3.5, energy 8. Thirty years on: the gate network is infrastructure, Laconia has protomolecule-derived tech, and people still do the thinking.Leviathan FallsThe ExpanseStar Trek: The Original Series → TNG / DS9 → Discovery, 32nd centuryThe Original Series · intelligence 4, energy 8. Warp is routine, food synthesisers not replicators. The ship's computer talks and analyses; the crew thinks.The Original SeriesTNG / DS9 · intelligence 6, energy 9. Replicators are matter at will. Data and the ship's computer are crew, not wonders.TNG / DS9Discovery, 32nd century · intelligence 7, energy 7. After the Burn: dilithium is scarce and warp travel precious, so a jump between stars is the plot again. Zora and programmable matter make cognition cheap.Discovery, 32nd centuryStar TrekAccelerando: Part 1: Manfred → Part 2: Amber → Part 3: SirhanPart 1: Manfred · intelligence 5, energy 3.5. A 2010s Earth with a swarm of agents doing Manfred's thinking for him. Energy is ours.Part 1: ManfredPart 2: Amber · intelligence 6, energy 6. The Ring Imperium at Jupiter: uploads, forks, a solar-powered economy of minds.Part 2: AmberPart 3: Sirhan · intelligence 9, energy 9. The inner system is being turned into computronium during the action. The protagonists are the Vile Offspring's refugees, so not quite the corner.Part 3: SirhanAccelerandoNeuromancer · intelligence 4, energy 2.5. A working but metered grid. AIs exist, but Wintermute is a one-off behind ICE; the cowboys do the thinking.NeuromancerThe Matrix · intelligence 4.5, energy 2. Zion: scavenged geothermal, hunted. Skill uploads are real cognition, for a few hovercraft crews.The MatrixPermutation City · intelligence 4, energy 3. Energy is today's. Uploads exist but compute is so dear that Copies run at 17x slowdown.Permutation CityRainbows End · intelligence 5, energy 3. Same grid as us. Everyone wears, everyone is networked; cognition by affiliance is universal.Rainbows EndStar Wars · intelligence 5.5, energy 8. A moisture farmer owns a speeder, smugglers own hyperdrives. Droids do translation, navigation and surgery for everyone, but they are property and nothing advances.Star WarsDiaspora · intelligence 10, energy 8. Polis citizens are software; cognition is the substrate. Energy is beyond concern, but the Sun is still in one piece.DiasporaThe Culture · intelligence 10, energy 10. The corner exists to hold this.The CultureInspired by this post.