What if we had an impact currency?
Photo by Markus Spiske
“What future possibilities would excite you the most? What kind of revelations can, will or should be achieved in your areas of interest?”
When this question jumped on my phone screen on Facebook in August, it made me CLICK. I answered this question at a Robotic Hackathon’s application form. Did I want to join the hackathon? Kind of, but there was something else to it. My fingers started tapping my new Huawei p30 Pros buttons (which has been great btw) and I typed in my answer.
Does it ever happen to you that you just type or say something and later on experience almost an awakening like WOW, where did that come from? Who wrote it?! Was it me? OH, IT WAS ME!
So, I sent in my attendance application to the hackathon answering what future possibility excites me the most. I typed “A human experience where positive impact is a currency.” Since then, I’ve been thinking about it and what it could be. Totally insane? Naah, just a little bit new age but not far fetched. We have cryptocurrencies already, right?
What are you craving for right now the most?
You have needs and wants and how you act to pursue and satisfy those needs are unique. You might be seeking for connection, love, acceptance, financial, physical and social safety as well as the meaningful moments that give you feelings of worthiness. We work to be able to pay our living. We work to be able to contribute to the society’s well-being but not because you or I could decide that for ourselves but because the government and society made us. What if this changed and WE could decide where the impact is directed at a collective level, worldwide?
What you’re craving for, what your partner, your colleagues, your neighbors are craving for is actually all very similar. We have human needs. It all circulates and comes down to what it means to be a human. It’s a stinky fact that we’ve actually undervalued it.
Imagine an Alien observing you for a day. How would the Alien define your humanity? What is humanity really and how can we restore what it truly is and could look like? Yes, now I’m talking about our future, your future and mine, in let’s say 30 years. Love that you’re going through this with me. But hey, wait a minute. What does the human craving have to do with impact currency? Perhaps it’s best to start by defining what impact means.
According to the Cambridge dictionary it’s “the force or action of one object hitting another” or “a powerful effect that something, especially something new, has on a situation or person”. I would define it as a snowball effect that our choices have. If we choose to use chemical shampoos, we would not only support the company making it but also the companies involved in the manufacturing and operating the company. Every yes to something is also a no to something else, right?
What’s an impact currency?
Someone might say “We can never get rid of banks“ or “Impact currency won’t definitely work for individuals“ or “There can never be big enough incentives to stop people spending on brands”.
I like to think of every such statement as a possibility to turn things around and ask what if questions. One of the most important future skills is to be able to learn, unlearn and relearn. So, let’s start questioning today’s norms and mental models behind our choices and behaviour. We all must learn how to stop for a while and observe.
Currently, we don’t see the impact of our choices and it’s very problematic. These choices are social, economical, spiritual, emotional, physical and what not. Many, especially young people, are becoming climate activists and more conscious about their choices. The majority isn’t and are ignoring their role in the big picture because they either don’t want or aren’t in a position to choose better. I’d like to see the justification of people saying “A single persons choice doesn’t make a difference, I’m just one person who’s trying to live a good life“ in history. For this kind of thinking to change, the choices and each impact needs to be made visible, both in company and in individual level. The impact currency could change peoples motives and behavior by having various collective incentives. What if you could get closer to your very important people and to connect through your actions? Imagine if you saw a visualisation of (just throwing in an example) let’s say three polar bears more in the Arctic circle because you did a positive impact purchase by using the impact currency on good. Or if you chose negative you’d be taken further away from having the sense of connection with others or seeing a visualisation of a forest with less green. Impact currency is strongly linked with conscious choices and human happiness.
In the impact currency, every good (positive impact) choice would get you more positive points and you could use them to do positive purchases. Imagine an app where you could choose from a list of good choices (this could be an incentive for companies). Every negative (negative impact) purchase would take away points and educate you on the possibilities and teach you to choose wiser. There are predictions of future platforms that would help us make complicated moral decisions in the future. Maybe impact currency is a part of it?
““The impact currency could change peoples motives and behavior by having various collective incentives.””
I like the idea of compensating co2 emissions what now seems to be the “easy way out“. In the long term though, it’s a compromise. It’s probably pretty good business during transition and we need compensations in order to activate companies, individuals and raise awareness of the urgency. Some use compensating as a form of woke washing and paying for a better confidence. Impact investments make more sense to me because there’s a clear incentive for positive results.
Perhaps compensating and investing would become part of this new age impact currency. I’d love to use a currency that would instantly tell me each impact of my choice and the impact of my lifestyle, would you?
-Satu Heikinheimo