Civilization and Consciousness

[Praxis101]

Hi, I'm looking for some reading amaterial for fun mostly. I'd like to read about civilizations, esp. some really science-fictiony kind of theories about high levels of civilization or cool stuff about how civilization advances (if anyone knows Borodog's post on Time Preference and Civilization, stuff like that is pretty sweet too.)

And the same type of stuff about consciousness. Like, if there are different dimensions of consciousness and crazy/science-fictiony stuff about high levels of consciousness and stuff. Or just your own theories about these matters. Bonus points if the resource includes both. Preferably free material, as I have been flirting with busto.