# Why The Name

**Author:** John K. Ferguson  
**Published:** 2026-10-14

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Our company name, Towards Type Two, is a bit of a weird one.

We know.

We didn't pick it to be weird though. We picked it because it describes how we want the company to orient itself in the world (and also as an amusing alliterative appellation).

To understand the why behind the name, let's first get into what the phrase _Type Two_ means.

## Type Two

When you hear the phrase _Type Two_, the first thing that probably pops into your head is diabetes, as in Type II diabetes.

And so following that thought, the name Towards Type Two must mean that we are in the business of spreading Type II diabetes, right? Perhaps we are here to make the world's most sugary drink! MOAR SUGAR! RAWR!

Not really.

There's actually another kind of Type II. This one comes from a Russian astronomer named Nikolai Kardashev.

Way back in the 1960's, he was involved in the search to detect extraterrestial signals from outer space. He started to wonder how powerful an alien radio signal would have to be in order to be detectable. This led him to consider the amount of energy required for such signals to reach Earth and thus the amount of energy a civiliation would need to be able to harvest to produce them. This categorization of civilizations based upon the amount of energy they can harvest became known as the [Kardashev scale](https://www.britannica.com/science/Kardashev-scale).

Within the Kardashev scale, there are three levels: Type I, Type II, Type III. Here's the breakdown of each:

- **Type I**: At this level, a civilization is capable of harvesting all the energy available from its planet. This includes all the solar energy that reaches it from its star as well as wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal energy. Total energy at this level is about 10<sup>16</sup> watts.
- **Type II**: At this level, the civilization is able to harvest all the energy of its star. This would require something like a [Dyson sphere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere) or Dyson swarm. Total energy at this level is about 10<sup>26</sup> watts.
- **Type III**: At this level, the civilization is capable of using the entire energetic resources of its galaxy, or about 10<sup>36</sup> watts. This would involve collecting energy from all of the starts within its galaxy.

So does Towards Type Two mean we're here to help move humanity towards becoming a Type II civilization? Not exactly. It's a bit more nuanced than that.

## The Reality of the Kardashev Scale

Let's first ground things in some actual numbers. Currently, humanity is about ~0.73 on the Kardashev scale. Note that this 0.73 is on a logarithmic scale. In percent terms, we are only 0.2% of the way towards Type I status as far as the amount of energy we harvest goes.

The truth is that climbing the Kardashev scale further to Type I or II status may or may not actually be achievable. It's unclear at this point.

For example, the amount of energy that a Type I civilization would generate would also cause a lot of waste heat. And if that waste heat was left on Earth then it could change the climate of the planet to such a degree as to make it uninhabitable. Ways to handle all this waste heat would be needed just as much as ways to harvest all that energy.

Similarly, to achieve Type II, we would need enough matter to build Dyson swarm type collectors capable of covering a large fraction of the area around the Sun. Material from asteroids alone would probably be insufficient. In practice, it would require dismantling much of Mercury, then converting it into thin collectors, radiators, and orbital infrastructure.

Needless to say, either of these are very, very big projects. And none of them, if they are achievable, could be reached within a single lifetime.

Keeping that in mind, let's get into the actual meaning of the name.

## The Orientation

As stated earlier, the name, Towards Type Two, is about orienting the company in the world.

What the name is doing is pointing to something.

In that sense, _Type Two_ is acting as a proxy for something far off in the future. Something we don't yet know for certain whether it is possible or not.

To reach it would be quite the achievement. It would take enormous growth and effort. And it's not something that can be done alone, nor is it something that we can see the full fruits of within a single lifetime. It's something that would take an incredible amount of co-ordination across space and time.

And so the orientation that the name prescribes is as follows:

- Work towards things that will outlast you.
- Be audacious in vision and goals and humble in knowing that you cannot achieve them alone.
- Increase clarity along the way. In the absence of clarity, know that what is envisioned may not be real.
- Collaborate and work together as a team.

That's what the name is really about.