Lanthanide · element 68
Erbium
Pink glass. Carries the internet under the ocean.
Only 0.3% of people are Erbium. (estimated)
If you're Erbium
You are soft-coloured, quiet, and moving more information across the world than anyone realises. Every message passes through you.
Erbium amplifies the light in undersea fibre-optic cables, so most of the internet passes through it.
How to get along with Erbium
Do
- Send everything through them; they carry it.
- Appreciate the pink; it's subtle on purpose.
- Trust the quiet amplification.
Don't
- Don't drown the signal in noise.
- Don't forget they're under the ocean, doing the work.
When it goes wrong: They amplify what you send. Send something worth amplifying.
Atomic profile
Every element is placed on six personality dimensions derived from its chemistry. Your answers are placed on the same six, and the closest element wins. How the scoring works
- Reactivity
- 5
- Sociability
- 5
- Stability
- 9
- Energy
- 3
- Rarity
- 6
- Warmth
- 6
Erbium in literature
- Rachel Verinder — The Moonstone, Wilkie Collins (1868)
- Pip — Great Expectations, Charles Dickens (1861)
- Bobbie — The Railway Children, E. Nesbit (1906)
Characters from public-domain works, chosen for the same traits. Company, not a verdict.
Closest personalities
The elements whose profiles sit nearest to Erbium's. If you got Erbium, one of these was probably your runner-up.
Other lanthanides
LaLanthanumCeCeriumPrPraseodymiumNdNeodymiumPmPromethiumSmSamariumEuEuropiumGdGadoliniumTbTerbiumDyDysprosiumHoHolmiumTmThuliumYbYtterbiumLuLutetium