Earth 2.0 Character Quiz
As we begin imagining our Earth 2.0, brick by brick and root by root, who will you be in this new world?
In this post, I’d like to introduce a new and exciting concept called Earth 2.0 Characters. I’ve been working on this lately, and I hope it will bring a sense of fun, empathy, and a more inclusive spirit to our journey toward Earth 2.0.
Before diving into it, let’s start with the core ideas behind this project as a warm-up.
In this Thought Seeds Lab blog series, my goal is to vividly imagine Earth 2.0 and bring it to life in our minds. Because while many of us constantly complain about the current world order, we rarely ask ourselves: What kind of world would we actually love?
If we could truly imagine this alternative world, would it change anything? Would we actually find, collectively, the strength within ourselves to fight for it?
In all the work I’ve done, the core of my perspective has always been about behavioral change.
Because even though sustainability has been commodified and treated as an engineering problem by industries, at its heart, it's about a design problem, a behavior problem, a disconnection from reality.
We never designed the system to be sustainable from the beginning.
Sure, we want a life with less anxiety, more ease, and deeper meaning. But what does that really mean?
What kinds of systems, structures, and relationships would support such a life?
This series will be a journey to shape that vision together.
(Quick note: Lately, I’ve also been wondering why there’s so little content about techno-utopian futures—especially when there’s so much of the opposite. I’m not even sure if there’s a fantastical or non-fantastical, relatively realistic alternative world that we’d actually want to live in. If anything comes to mind, please drop it in the comments!
That’s why the idea of co-creating this kind of alternative together has started to feel both more beneficial and way more exciting to me, especially after watching the first episode of the new Black Mirror season...)
To even begin discussing such alternatives, I’ve already tried to stretch our imaginations in earlier posts, starting from the mindset we need, to imagining a world without humans, to envisioning what it might mean to live in harmony with our cyborg descendants if humans were no longer the dominant species.
I hope these exercises gave us a little more flexibility, creativity, and space to dream.
Now, for example, one of my next blog posts will likely focus on the systems of money.
But I won’t close it off with a simple, “this is how it should be.”
I’m hoping we’ll figure it out over time, layer by layer, feeding from and into each other’s ideas.
Eventually, we’ll arrive at a living, breathing vision of an Earth 2.0—one worth working toward.
And now, here we are.
We haven’t disappeared. We’re not under some techno-dystopian future or AI-cyborg rule (yet).
So, as long as we’re still here—with our beautifully unique human quirks, let’s imagine something different.
This alternative doesn’t have just one single version, its spectrum is vast.
What do you want?
Everyone will imagine their own version.
These alternatives will touch on everything, from economics to sociology, from values to governance.
And who knows, at some point in the series, maybe even the idea of cyborg stewardship will start to seem logical, or even compassionate :)
Things to remember
History doesn’t repeat itself, but human nature rarely changes. It’s helpful to keep that in mind, not to kill hope, but to stay realistic and avoid heartbreak. Our expectations of systems may need to bend a little around the limits (and potential) of human nature.
Don’t say, “Who am I to imagine an alternative world? I’m no expert. I’m not a professor.”
Noam Chomsky puts it perfectly:
“The qualifications that I have to speak on world affairs are exactly the same ones Henry Kissinger has, and Walt Rostow has, or anybody in the Political Science Department, professional historians—none, none that you don't have.
The only difference is, I don't pretend to have qualifications, nor do I pretend that qualifications are needed.
I mean, if somebody were to ask me to give a talk on quantum physics, I'd refuse—because I don't understand enough.
But world affairs are trivial: there's nothing in the social sciences or history or whatever that is beyond the intellectual capacities of an ordinary fifteen-year-old.
You have to do a little work, you have to do some reading, you have to be able to think, but there's nothing deep…”
Introduction to Earth 2.0 Characters
Before diving into these systemic issues and possibility conversations, let’s start by reflecting on who we are and how we want to show up in this imagined world.
To do that, I want to draw some inspiration from plants and fungi—because a few days ago, sweetgrass came to mind and helped me connect the dots and create characters.
PS: I’ve never smelled or seen Sweetgrass — it’s just the influence of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book, which I started last year but never finished. Maybe it’s the curiosity it sparked that stayed with me.
Are we behaving like a virus… or like a mycorrhizal thread?
Are we consuming the system… or participating in its breath?
Perhaps the first step to healing the planet and ourselves is listening to the voices we’ve ignored.
And perhaps the best way to begin is this:
Burn some sweetgrass. Inhale. Remember.
The Earth is alive. And so are you.
The truth is, you can’t fully be the person you are right now in the world we’re about to imagine.
So, let's find out: Who are you as we begin?
If you’ve played games, maybe you’ve heard of roles like Mage, Warrior, Priest, or Paladin.
But here, we’ll define your Earth 2.0 character using plants, fungi, and bacteria instead.
Our journey with these characters is just beginning.
(Quick hint: Over time, you might encounter them again, in the perspectives we explore while imagining the building blocks of our alternative world, in the conversations we share, or perhaps even someday in a game.)
Feel free to share your character results and thoughts with me!
In the next post, I’ll reveal the character details, the backs of their character cards, and what I aim to explore with them.
Thanks :)
P.S. If this post sparked your curiosity, hit the ❤️ button—it helps more curious minds discover this journey!
Enjoying my writing? Wanna join me on the road and support my work?
And if these ideas got you thinking, consider sharing or recommending the journey to others.
Wanna read more?
Stay tuned for the next blog post coming!
Until then, take care!
You are right there should be more utopians ideas around technology.