Welcome to Positron City

August 15, 2025

Introduction

This isn’t a real city. Not yet.

It’s an idea. A place where people could be truly healthy: physically, mentally, and emotionally. A place designed with intention, guided by compassion, grounded in ethics, and powered by technology that serves people, not the other way around.

Every person deserves to feel safe, supported, and free to grow. We’re building on foundations like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and a deep belief in what we owe each other simply for existing.

This is the beginning. You're invited.

August 25, 2025

Motivation

If you've ever wondered why so many people are hungry, homeless, or struggling — even though countless charities and organizations work tirelessly to help — then you already understand the core motivation for Positron City. Those efforts matter, and they change lives for the better.

Yet in some ways, we are all limited by the systems in which we live. The interesting thing is that we are the ones who build those systems. Our parents, our grandparents, and countless other ancestors have organically grown the social structures we have today — that we continue to build every day.

Many of these structures are good and beneficial. But they also have flaws. Today, in this modern age, we have the knowledge to consciously design new social structures that address those flaws and better support the people within them.

Positron City is not about tearing anything down. It's not about radical upheaval.

Instead, Positron City is about creating something new. A social structure built intentionally to support human well-being, dignity, and potential. A place where harmful patterns of the past can be left behind, and where people can thrive together.

If this vision resonates with you, then together we can begin shaping what Positron City will become.

September 19, 2025

The Meaning of the Name

In physics, a positron is the positively charged counterpart, or antiparticle, of the more familiar electron. Paul Dirac proposed the possibility of the positron’s existence in 1928, and the particle was later discovered by Carl David Anderson in 1932. That breakthrough wasn’t the work of one person alone. It required many people, across years, building on each other’s insights.

The positron is a good namesake for our city for several reasons.

First, it is positively charged, just like the goals of Positron City. We are focused on building something new and positive for humanity.

Second, its discovery began with an idea and required persistence to prove. The goals of Positron City are not easy to achieve, and they will take time. But, like the positron, they are possible given enough effort, collaboration, and imagination.

Third, the positron is a naturally occurring particle. That reflects Positron City’s desire to create social structures that feel natural to human life. Not artificial impositions, but systems that genuinely fit the way people live, grow, and connect.

Fourth, the name is a nod toward science, mathematics, and technology. Positron City also has the goal of education for all. In fact, if you’ve learned even one new thing from this article, then in a small way we’ve already begun to achieve that goal.

November 11, 2025

Foundations Part 1: Hierarchy of Needs

One of the primary goals of Positron City is to be a place that meets people's needs, so it is important to understand just what those needs are on a fundamental level. One framework for this is the hierarchy of needs, first proposed by Abraham Maslow in the 1940s. The hierarchy describes the range of human needs and goals, from the most basic (such as the need to breathe) to the most transcendent.

By Hamish.croker - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=164544166

As a social structure, Positron will be best suited to supporting the base needs described in the physiological, safety, and social layers. These include essentials such as food, water, warmth, shelter, personal security, and community. With the right planning, all of these can be provided for every Positron citizen, without exception.

But meeting these needs is not the end goal. Rather, it is the foundation for something higher. When people no longer struggle for survival, they gain (or regain) the time and energy to grow. They can nurture relationships, learn, create, and explore their own potential. In this way, every secure home, every warm meal, and every safe public space is a foundation from which human potential can grow.

Higher-level needs such as love, esteem, and self-actualization are also described in the hierarchy. These include friendship, confidence, and creativity, all of which are qualities that make life meaningful. While Positron cannot directly grant these things, it can cultivate the conditions in which they thrive. It can offer education and guidance, spaces for reflection and collaboration, and systems that encourage respect, empathy, and mutual support.

By taking responsibility for the lower levels of the hierarchy, Positron will give its citizens the foundation to climb higher. The goal is not merely to build a city where people live, but a society where people flourish.

November 26, 2025

Foundations Part 2: Universal Declaration of Human Rights

If the hierarchy of needs describes what every person requires to live and grow, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights describes how a society must meet and protect those needs. Adopted by the United Nations in 1948, the UDHR is one of humanity’s most significant moral agreements. It's a shared commitment to dignity, safety, and freedom for all people, everywhere.

While Maslow outlines the internal structure of human needs, the UDHR provides the external structure that communities must uphold. It defines essentials such as food, shelter, education, and personal security as rights, not just hopes. In other words, it turns the foundation of human well-being into a collective responsibility.

Positron City embraces the UDHR as a guiding framework. Many of the needs described in the hierarchy appear directly within the text, but the UDHR goes further. It articulates the ethical obligations that individuals and societies owe each other. Article 29 is especially important in this respect. It reminds us that rights do not exist in isolation. Rather, they are sustained through mutual respect, shared responsibility, and a commitment to the common good.

Together, the hierarchy of needs and the UDHR form a natural pair. One helps us understand what human flourishing requires; the other outlines the rights and duties that make such flourishing possible. Neither document is sacred or infallible. Both will be revisited, tested, and refined through experience and evidence. But as starting points, they offer a principled foundation for Positron City.