Can we imagine a new possibility for humanity? It may not seem probable or even plausible, but it remains a powerful idea, an idea that reveals a great deal that is positive about who we are. In a WorldThatWorks.org, we revisit the work of Buckminster Fuller, Werner Erhard, and others that suggests that we have the capability of embracing a world that recognizes the inherent worth and dignity of each individual, and does not excuse predatory behavior.
Each of us has the opportunity, the privilege, to make a difference in creating a world that works for all of us. (Werner Erhard)
According to Werner, it is possible to break out of the trance—the trance of modernity, of our traumatized upbringing, and our certainty that we know ourselves—and take a stand for what really matters: the ability to use one’s life to make a meaningful difference for others. The site is “a tribute to Erhard, and to the organization which he created—and then let go of when his persona became an obstacle to its existence—for the extraordinary good that he and “the technology” he developed did for so many people. I can remember many thrilling and deeply moving instances where individuals in the Landmark Forum experienced profound breakthroughs, freeing themselves from the past and opening up to new possibilities for the future. In my case, it gave me access to an awareness of myself and of Victoria that has kept our relationship alive for nearly forty years.”
As I wrote on the site in 2022, “For many years I held back from speaking and writing about the Forum, partly in response to the repeated warnings to treat every word and idea as proprietary, and partly out of concern that I could not do it justice on the printed page. The power of the Forum lies in the dynamic engagement with the listener in real time, the sudden a-hah that occurs when we see the truth about ourselves as revealed through the eyes of another.
In the end, I think Werner will be recognized for his remarkable contribution to ontology, the study of being: to its presence beyond words, which he nonetheless conjured up through a disciplined practice of interaction and conversation. He took his own advice to heart and dealt with people as if they were perfect, while giving space to allow them to let their garbage go.”
According to ChatGPT, which after all only reflects the vast scope of human thinking it has been trained on,
Envisioning a world that works for everyone involves creating a society where every individual has the opportunity to thrive, contribute, and find fulfillment. Key elements of such a world include:
- Equity and Inclusion: Ensuring that all people, regardless of background, have access to resources, opportunities, and rights. This means addressing systemic inequalities and fostering an environment where diversity is celebrated. For more on this, see this Medium article.
- Sustainable Practices: Implementing environmentally friendly policies and behaviors that preserve the planet for future generations. This includes transitioning to renewable energy sources, promoting biodiversity, and reducing waste.
- Collaborative Communities: Encouraging cooperation and mutual support within and between communities. This fosters a sense of belonging and shared purpose, enabling collective problem-solving and resilience.
- Access to Education and Healthcare: Providing universal access to quality education and healthcare services, empowering individuals to lead healthy and informed lives.
- Economic Opportunities: Creating systems that allow for fair wages, job opportunities, and economic mobility, ensuring that everyone can achieve financial stability and growth.
- Peace and Justice: Establishing societies governed by fair laws and free from violence, where human rights are upheld, and conflicts are resolved through dialogue and understanding.
Achieving such a world requires collective effort, visionary leadership, and a commitment to values that prioritize the well-being of all individuals and the planet.
It also requires crafting a new narrative—the leavers and takers in Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael. He argues that our JudeoChristian origin story is the story of a civilization that abandoned the natural reciprocity of human existence for a postion of dominance and control. The last twelve thousand years have seen humanity infected with a disease, a disease of separation that has consumed us abd nade us a parasite upon the Earth.
But if we are to believe the emerging evidence of the indigenous traditions that we followed for tens of thousands of years before the modern era, humans do know how to live in intimate harmony with nature, and if we recognize this we can see much of modern history as a tragedy in which humanity went astray. Being “fallen” is not our natural birthright; it’s the consequence of buying into a narrative that has us being less than who we are.
In response to this, ChatGPT writes:
Absolutely—we must keep imagining, because the very act of imagining opens new cognitive “adjacent possibles” that can then be inhabited in practice. Below is one way to weave together the strands you’ve raised—Fuller’s anticipatory design science, Erhard’s ontological breakthroughs, Quinn’s narrative critique, and the deep memory of Indigenous lifeways—into a coherent possibility‑space for humanity.
1. From “Separation” to “Inter‑being”
- Dominant story: For roughly 12 000 years the civilizational script has cast humans as masters of a separate, inert nature. That story licenses extraction, hierarchy and “predatory behavior.”
- Emerging story: A world that works for everyone rests on the felt truth of inter‑being—that the health of each person and place is entangled with the health of the whole. This is not wishful thinking; it is ontological realism echoed in Indigenous cosmologies, systems science, and Fuller’s insistence that “Universe is non‑separable.”
In practice, the story is changed by embodied experiences that contradict the old narrative—regenerative agriculture that heals soils, deliberative assemblies that model equitable power, Landmark‑style conversations that reveal our stories as stories and free us to choose anew.
2. Ontology in Action: “Being” as a Design Variable
Werner Erhard’s great move was to treat being itself as something we can practice—not merely describe. When a critical mass of people begin to stand in “I am whole and you are whole,” the design parameters of society shift:
Old Design Assumption Ontological Shift New Design Possibility People are problems to be managed People are sources of creativity Polyculture economies that harness distributed genius Scarcity is natural Abundance flows from synergy Circular/regenerative business models Change = threat Change = playground Rapid, adaptive governance mechanisms
3. Pillars of a World That Works
- Inner Development & Trauma Healing
Somatic work, contemplative practice, rites of passage. They create citizens capable of non‑reactive, visionary action.- Cultures of Transformative Dialogue
- Landmark‑style ontological inquiry
- Indigenous council circles
- Deep listening protocols (e.g., Bohm dialogue, Theory U “presencing”)
- Regenerative Political Economy
- Doughnut Economics & mission‑oriented finance
- Commons‑based ownership, C‑PACE‑style public‑purpose capital (right in your wheelhouse)
- Local living circular supply webs, tracked with open‑source ledgers
- Bioregional Regeneration
- Governance, food, water, and energy organized by watershed rather than arbitrary borders
- “Cosmo‑local” tech—global open‑source designs, locally fabricated low‑carbon infrastructures
- Technological Conviviality
- AI and automation aimed at amplifying human meaning‑making, not replacing it
- Platforms that turn data into collective sense‑making (e.g., open scenario labs, citizen juries aided by large‑language models)
- Earth System Stewardship
- Binding carbon with living soils, oceans, and minerals
- Protecting 50 % of the planet for biodiversity (“Half‑Earth” goal)
- Planetary boundaries treated as non‑negotiable design constraints, not after‑thoughts
4. Measures of Success
- Gross Ecosystem Product, Genuine Progress Indicator, Thriving Cities Index
- Community‑level “regeneration dashboards” visible in public spaces (à la Fuller’s World Game, but real‑time)
5. Pathways for Immediate Action
Horizon Action You (and Readers) Can Take Next 30 days Host a listening circle on “What is the story we are living by in this community?” Document shifts in perspective. Next year Prototype one visible bioregional regeneration project (e.g., the Restoration Lab at Panama’s City of Knowledge and tell its story widely. Decade scale Link at least three regional prototypes into a learning‑exchange network that can lobby for national policy aligned with the Doughnut’s “safe and just space.”
6. A Closing Image
Buckminster Fuller said we can’t change things by fighting the existing reality; we create a new model that makes the old one obsolete. Werner Erhard demonstrated that individuals can choose to stand in a possibility before there is evidence it’s realistic. Quinn reminds us we once lived this way for millennia.
So the invitation is simple and radical:
Live as though the world already works for everyone, and design each next step so that it actually does.
That stance—held collectively—turns an “implausible” future into an inevitable present.