The Clock Of The Long Now Book Summary

In 'The Clock of the Long Now,' Stewart Brand invites readers to consider the vastness of time, challenging the short-sightedness of modern civilization. He imagines a monumental clock designed to tick for 10,000 years, symbolizing the importance of thinking far beyond our immediate future. Through this lens, Brand explores sustainability, responsibility, and the interconnectedness of human actions over millennia. With a blend of philosophy, technology, and visionary thinking, he inspires a deep reflection on our legacy to future generations. Could our understanding of progress be forever transformed by simply extending our perspective?

By Stewart Brand

Published: 2000

""The future is not a gift, it is an achievement; and it can only be secured if we understand the long now.""

Book Review of The Clock Of The Long Now

Using the designing and building of the Clock of the Long Now as a framework, this is a book about the practical use of long time perspective: how to get it, how to use it, how to keep it in and out of sight. Here are the central questions it inspires: How do we make long-term thinking automatic and common instead of difficult and rare? Discipline in thought allows freedom. One needs the space and reliability to predict continuity to have the confidence not to be afraid of revolutions Taking the time to think of the future is more essential now than ever, as culture accelerates beyond its ability to be measured Probable things are vastly outnumbered by countless near-impossible eventualities. Reality is statistically forced to be extraordinary; fiction is not allowed this freedom This is a potent book that combines the chronicling of fantastic technology with equally visionary philosophical inquiry.

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"The future is not a gift, it is an achievement; and it can only be secured if we understand the long now."

The Clock Of The Long Now

By Stewart Brand