The Long Now Foundation

Nature Does Not Ask Me The Long Now Foundation fosters long-term thinking. Our work encourages imagination at the timescale of civilization — the next and last 10,000 years — a timespan we call the long now.

If you needed a reminder to slow down and breathe today, here it is. A timeline cleanse, courtesy of this lovely poem “Nature Does Not Ask Me” by our very own @denisehearn.bsky.social

The poem calls you to show up, fully inhabited, no more and no less.

Read it here: longnow.org/ideas/nature...

How to be a Good Ancestor with Public Philosopher Roman Krznaric Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

What’s the difference between your “marshmallow brain” and your “acorn brain”? Lisa Kay Solomon asks @romankrznaric.bsky.social to explain on the “How We Future” podcast here ->
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaR-...
Love seeing two Long Now Talks alumni in conversation.

Eric Ries: Incorruptible by Design Launched by Stewart Brand in 02003, Long Now Talks has invited more than 400 leading thinkers to share their civilization-scale ideas.

Looking forward to hosting @ericries.bsky.social for a fireside chat at @longnow.org on April 7 in San Francisco. We'll be discussing his new book "Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad…and How Great Companies Stay Great." Come hang out!
longnow.org/talks/02026-...

Melody Jue: Ocean Memory Launched by Stewart Brand in 02003, Long Now Talks has invited more than 400 leading thinkers to share their civilization-scale ideas.

Don't miss Melody's upcoming Long Now Talk, Wed March 18, live in San Francisco and streaming online. Details and tickets here: longnow.org/talks/02026-...

Beyond Living Coral Pantone’s coral pink sells a single, tropical fantasy. Soft corals — blooming, deflating, and dissolving — tell a different story about what reefs are and how they vanish.

Hear "coral" and you probably picture a bright tropical reef. But coral isn't one color, and coral isn't one story. New today on Ideas, read Melody Jue's "Living Coral," about how to remember an organism that dissolves without a trace -> longnow.org/ideas/beyond...

"…to be a fad, you must be liked. To be infrastructure, you must be required."

Learn more about Keats' SF exhibition opening here: modernisminc.com/exhibitions/...

More about Long Now's Bristlecone Preserve here: longnow.org/nevada/

The effect will be to synchronize human actions with the activity of other lifeforms such as sequoias, oaks, bristlecone pines — and soon, glaciers. The goal is nothing less than a revolution in global logistics and planning: to reintegrate Homo sapiens into the environment as a whole.

Prototyped at Long Now’s Nevada Bristlecone Preserve and the Nevada Museum of Art, Keats’s alternative timekeeping system includes a monumental arboreal clock, arboreal land calendar, and the world’s first arboreal bond brokerage firm.

Coordinated universal time is OUT. No more atomic clocks. No more cesium fountain. Instead, we’re calibrating our lives to the trees. Welcome to Bristlecone Time.

Artist/philosopher Jonathon Keats unveils a horological and land art project offering an alternative time standard calibrated by trees.

Stefan Sagmeister before his @longnow.org talk at the Cowell Theatre. Designer, thinker, relentless questioner of beauty and happiness. In the quiet before the lights, all focus and intensity. San Francisco (2026). #SciArt

Such a beautiful book from our upcoming speaker, Stefan Sagmeister! Read an excerpt here: longnow.org/ideas/its-ge...

Don't miss his upcoming Long Now Talk, happening today (Tues Feb 17). In-person tickets are sold out, but join us on the livestream here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXVf...

Also available on all podcast platforms: pod.link/186908455/ep...

Indy Johar | Civilizational Optioneering YouTube video by The Long Now Foundation

As artificial intelligence reshapes labor and value, @indyjohar.bsky.social urged us to reevaluate what it means to be human. What does that require in a time of such cascading volatility?

His answer in the full Long Now Talk, live now:
Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyEY...

Melody Jue: Ocean Memory Launched by Stewart Brand in 02003, Long Now Talks has invited more than 400 leading thinkers to share their civilization-scale ideas.

[Ticket announcement] Author and professor Melody Jue asks: Does the ocean remember? Can the ocean’s memories teach us to better steward our planet? Wed, Mar 18 @ 7PM PT

Guest hosted by professor Margaret Cohen of Stanford University. Tickets and more information: longnow.org/talks/02026-...

It’s Good to Be Infrastructure Using Stewart Brand’s Pace Layers framework to think about platforms, power, and long-term investing

How does pace layering apply to investing?

New today on 𝘐𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴 Dave Bujnowski of Baillie Gifford uses case studies from Facebook, FarmVille, Apple and IBM to explain why “it’s good to be infrastructure”.

longnow.org/p/70c7978a-6...

Reframing Education for the Long Now: Balancing Immediate Needs with Long-Term Transformation The Long Now Foundation fosters long-term thinking. Our work encourages imagination at the timescale of civilization — the next and last 10,000 years — a timespan we call the long now.

An amazing piece on how pace layering applies to the world of education -> longnow.org/ideas/refram...

Fast layers propose, disrupt, and learn.

Slow layers preserve, constrain, and integrate.

The tension is constructive.

The relationship between fast and slow layers can create adaptive strategies and societal resilience.

What layer are you working in?

Pace layers is a framework for long-term thinking, yes, but it’s also a way to better understand your agency in a fast-moving world. ➡️

Brilliant talk tonight by @indyjohar.bsky.social at @longnow.org . I'm still unpacking his model where doubt is foundational to intelligence, and wondering where do ml systems, where uncertainty is defined with respect to a axiomatically problematic ground truth, fit in this framework.

Indy Johar | Civilizational Optioneering YouTube video by The Long Now Foundation

[TUNE IN] Tomorrow (Tue, 1/27) philosopher-architect Indy Johar explores why our future depends on an “optioneering” approach to architecture.

Livestream his Long Now Talk here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT6f...

Donate In our age of compounding crises, Long Now is a counterweight. Join us.

Long Now members check your email for your free ticket code. Not a member? Join here: longnow.org/join

Stefan Sagmeister: Finally, something good. Launched by Stewart Brand in 02003, Long Now Talks has invited more than 400 leading thinkers to share their civilization-scale ideas.

[Ticket announcement] Acclaimed designer Stefan Sagmeister live in San Francisco, Feb 17, 02026

Amid the polycrisis, Sagmeister presents tangible evidence that, when assessed from a long-term perspective, most aspects of human development have improved.

More info here: longnow.org/talks/02026-...

The Essential Art of Civilization What the U.S. Army’s idea of “sustainment” can teach us about how systems — and civilizations — endure.

"The apparent paradox is profound: Maintenance is absolutely necessary and maintenance is optional. It is easy to put off, yet it has to be done. Defer now, regret later. Neglect kills." via @longnow.org longnow.org/ideas/the-es...

Indy Johar: Civilizational Optioneering Launched by Stewart Brand in 02003, Long Now Talks has invited more than 400 leading thinkers to share their civilization-scale ideas.

Excited to host @indyjohar.bsky.social on Jan 27 @longnow.org. While options for the future feel increasingly narrow geopolitically & climatically, how can we preserve possibilities for future generations of many forms of life – biologic, institutional, synthetic? longnow.org/talks/02026-...

In this essay by Gus Mitchell, take a deep dive into planetary consciousness, bioregionalism, and what it means to really belong to a place like Earth.

longnow.org/ideas/bioreg...

In the 01970s environmental activist Peter Berg said the phrase “one world” was a “bullshit transnational fuckup” that put us on a path to abstraction and lack of accountability. Instead, we needed planetary framing.

But why is the phrase “one planet” or “whole Earth” so transformative?

Indy Johar: Civilizational Optioneering Launched by Stewart Brand in 02003, Long Now Talks has invited more than 400 leading thinkers to share their civilization-scale ideas.

Don’t miss his talk Jan 27, 02026 live in San Francisco or streaming online. Tickets and details here: longnow.org/talks/02026-...

[Upcoming Talk] @indyjohar.bsky.social says in order to survive the long now we must value adaptation over control.

We can do this by shifting away from "closed projects" with finite ends, to "open gardens" where success is measured by the system's ability to evolve.

With an incredible season of Talks, book launches, and events coming in 02026, now is the time to join us → longnow.org/join