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The Clock of the Long Now
Time & Responsibility by Stewart Brand
Civilization is revving itself into a pathologically short attention span.
What if we could think in centuries instead of seconds?
In The Clock of the Long Now, Stewart Brand challenges us to expand our sense of time. He argues that modern society’s obsession with immediacy—fueled by quarterly earnings reports, election cycles, and fleeting trends—is holding us back from solving humanity’s biggest challenges.
The antidote? A mindset he calls “The Long Now,” where we think not just about today, but about the next 10,000 years.
SMARTEST TAKEAWAYS
How to Think in the Long Now
1️⃣ Deep Time Perspective: Brand encourages us to see ourselves as part of a vast timeline—one that stretches back to the dawn of agriculture and forward to a future we can help shape. This perspective fosters humility and responsibility.
2️⃣ The Power of Slow Thinking: Fast thinking innovates; slow thinking sustains. By slowing down, we can build systems—like infrastructure or education—that last for generations.
3️⃣ Symbols Matter: The 10,000-Year Clock, designed to tick once a year and chime once a millennium, is more than a timepiece. It’s a symbol of long-term responsibility, reminding us to think beyond our lifetimes.
Stewart Brand (pictured right) is a writer, futurist, and environmentalist known for founding ‘The Whole Earth Catalog’ and influencing counterculture and tech movements
INSIGHTFUL EXAMPLE
A Grove for the Future
Brand shares the story of Oxford College’s dining hall beams. When the ancient oak beams began to decay, they discovered that 500 years earlier, a grove of oaks had been planted specifically for this purpose. The foresight of those long-gone planters ensured that future generations would have what they needed.
BOOK FACTS
The Clock of the Long Now
First Published: April 6, 2000
Print length: 208 pages
Listening length: N/A
Ratings: 4.4 Amazon, 4.1 Goodreads
WORTH WATCHING
The 10,000 Year Clock
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