Just as there are recognizable stages in the development of an individual in moving from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, so too are there stages of development that describe the maturation of an entire species. Thus far humanity seems to have grown from its species-childhood to early adolescence. In my view, we are roughly halfway home as a species. We are approximately halfway along the path of achieving a planetary civilization that is able both to maintain itself and surpass itself into the deep future. We can place our current predicament in perspective by considering our situation from a cosmic scale.
Astronomers estimate there are roughly a trillion galaxies.
Each galaxy is estimated to contain a billion or more star systems like our sun. Our cosmos likely contains trillions of planetary systems upon which life can evolve. Throughout the cosmos, then, there are likely many other beings struggling to achieve their maturity as a planetary-scale species. Imagine, then, that you have a space vehicle which enables you to traverse the immense distances of the cosmos at great speed. Your craft hurtles through space, passing by millions of star systems, each with its accompanying planetary systems.