The Long Now Foundation

Code for America was founded in 02009 by Jennifer Pahlka “to make government work better for the people and by the people in the 21st century.” The organization started a movement to modernize government for a digital age which has now spread from cities to counties to states, and now, most visibly, to the federal government, where Jennifer served at the White House as US Deputy Chief Technology O...

Was it ecocide? The collapse of the mini-civilization on Easter Island (Rapa Nui) has long been considered one of the great Green morality tales. Once the people there cut down the last tree, story goes, they were doomed. Their famous statues were an arms race that completed the exhaustion of their all-too-finite resources. Moral of the story: Easter Island equals Earth Island: we must not repeat...

Rationality, a cornerstone of modern economic theory, is increasingly called into question by new behavioral research

. By looking at subsistence societies, this biological anthropologist reaffirms that humans can act in their own self-interest. Bringing an evolutionary perspective to formal decision theory, Dr. Jones will explain what we can learn from the most rational people in the world. The...

“You will find the future wherever people are having the most fun,” Johnson argues. He chronicles how, throughout history, world-transforming innovation emerges from the endless quest for novelty in seemingly trivial entertainments--fashion, music, spices, magic, taverns, zoos, games. He celebrates the observation of historian Johan Huizinga (Homo Ludens), “Civilization arises and unfolds in and a...

Stanford historian Fred Turner discussed how concerns about mass media in the 01940s set the stage for not only the psychedelic 01960s, but also today's social media. This presentation connects the subjects of Turner's two most recent books: "From Counterculture to Cyberculture" and "The Democratic Surround". Fred Turner is a two-time fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Scien...

Douglas Coupland has done so much more than name a generation (“Generation X”—post-Boomer, pre-Millennial, from his novel of that name). He is a prolific writer (22 books, including nonfiction such as his biography of Marshall McLuhan) and a brilliant visual artist with installations at a variety of museums and public sites. His 1995 novel "Microserfs" nailed the contrast between corporate and sta...

A philosopher considers the history of hope and its future in the epoch ahead.
 A tour through the theoretical, empirical, and practical dimensions of hope and how it differs from optimism followed by a conversation with Long Now co-founder Stewart Brand on hope and optimism as tools in the now and the long now. "A Case for Hope in the Anthropocene" was given on June 28, 02016 as part of The Long...

David Eagleman gives the keynote talk on "The Brain and The Now" at the Long Now Member Summit and is joined onstage after his talk by Stewart Brand and Danny Hillis for further discussion and Q&A. 02016 marks The Long Now Foundation's 20th year and we are holding our first Summit to showcase and connect with our amazing community, on Tuesday October 4, 02016 from noon to 11:30pm, at Fort Mason Ce...

A now extinct bird that once flocked in the billions, a casualty of industrialization, can be revived. Ben Novak, lead scientist of Revive & Restore's Passenger Pigeon Comeback discussed his work to return a species to the skies, sharing the latest developments and a broad overview of the process of genetic rescue and de-extinction. "The Next Flight of the Passenger Pigeon: Engineering Nature's En...

Cities and urban regions can make coherent sense, can metabolize efficiently, can use their very complexity to solve problems, and can become so resilient they “bounce forward” when stressed. In this urbanizing century ever more of us live in cities (a majority now; 80% expected by 2100), and cities all over the world are learning from each other how pragmatic governance can work best. Jonathan Ro...

Quantum computing is widely considered to be: * The most potentially transformative technology of this century; * Nothing but hope and hype. A reliable reporter who is familiar with all of the rich variety of quantum research going on and the reality of the remarkable progress in the field (along with its still-expanding potential) is quantum pioneer Seth Lloyd, professor of mechanical engineering...

Recent research shows that genetics as well as environment contribute to our political opinions. Social and political psychologist Rose McDermott of Brown University, a Stanford CASBS fellow, explains the biological foundations of ideology, how conservative and liberals react to each other's scent, and much more. "Ideology in our Genes: The Biological Basis for Political Traits" was given on July...

Since the mid-01980s Kevin Kelly has been creating, and reporting on, the digital future. His focus is the long-term trends and social consequences of technology. Kelly’s new book, "THE INEVITABLE: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future", is a grand synthesis of his thinking on where technology is heading in the next few decades, and how we can embrace it to maximize...

It is possible to be extremely astute about how we manage difficult decisions. With just a few mental tools we get the benefit of better outcomes along with release from agonizing about the process of deciding. Many mental tools—algorithms—developed with obligatory clarity for computers turn out to have ready application for humans facing such problems as: when to stop hunting for an apartment (or...

Much of what will happen in the next 30 years is inevitable, driven by trends that are now in motion. Long Now’s Kevin Kelly shares his thoughts on upcoming changes from virtual reality the on-demand economy and how they represent long-term, accelerating forces in this unique event in discussion with The Interval audience. "The Inevitable" was given on June 07, 02016 as part of The Long Now Founda...

Automated systems increasingly try to predict our behavior and needs; what do we do until they get good at it? The first talk in a new series from the team at PARC, 
the venerable research lab, UX designer and author Mike Kuniavsky takes a clear-eyed look at the benefits and risks of a future interwoven with algorithms. "Our Future in Algorithm Farming" was given on May 17, 02016 as part of The Lo...

Humanity’s adaptation to climate change will require novel, global cooperation and societal evolution. The award-winning science fiction author of "2312", the "Mars" Trilogy, and "Aurora" shares his vision for how the world must change in advance of his 02017 novel "New York 2140". Hosted by Stewart Brand. Kim Stanley Robinson: http://www.kimstanleyrobinson.info/ is an American novelist, widely re...

Can you pass the marshmallow test? You’re a little kid. A marshmallow is placed on the table in front of you. You’re told you can eat it any time, but if you wait a little while, you’ll be given two marshmallows to eat. The kids who have the self-control to pass this most famous of psychological tests turn out to have more rewarding and productive lives. Walter Mischel, who first ran the test in t...

No one thinks longer, or bigger, than astrophysicists. “This is the golden age of cosmology,” says Priya Natarajan, one of the world’s leading astrophysicists, because data keeps pouring in to vet even the most radical theories. And the dominant mysteries are profound. She observes that “The vast majority of stuff in the universe—both dark matter and dark energy, which dominate the content and fat...

Memory is not about the past, it is about the future. Historian and media expert Abby Smith Rumsey explores how digital memory, which cannot be preserved, will shape the future of knowledge and affect our survival. Abby Smith Rumsey: http://www.rumseywrites.com is a historian who writes about how ideas and information technologies shape perceptions of history, of time, and of personal and cultural...

Isabella Kirkland's paintings are built for longevity with the hope that the images survive long after the biota are gone, to stand as mute record to their passage. Mixing old techniques, scientific acumen, and keen observation, her paintings act as snapshots of modern attitudes towards other forms of life. Unusually, Kirkland's work has exhibited about equally between art and natural history cont...

Three billion people—nearly half of us--depend on rice for survival. What if you could adjust rice genetically so 1) it has a 50% greater yield, 2) using half the water, 3) needing far less fertilizer, 4) along with higher resilience to climate change? It would transform world agriculture. All you need to do is switch rice from inefficient C3 photosynthesis to the kind of C4 photosynthesis employe...

Kara Platoni went around the world to document the ways we humans are trying to expand our experience of the world beyond our basic senses. She found scientists, doctors, inventors, and cooks who are actively exploring the frontiers of perception. She gave us a taste of the science and shared amazing stories of biohackers, foodies, virtual reality researchers, and other sensory pioneers. Kara Plat...

Millions are migrating under duress. Refugee camps the size of cities have persisted for decades. Real dangers and sensationalized fear drive short term news cycles. In a special panel discussion hosted by Long Now academics and on the ground non-profits discuss global migration, the refugee reality, and ideas for the future. "Thinking Long-term About the Evolving Global Challenge" was given on Fe...

Once humans took charge of fire, fire remade humans and commenced remaking the world. “We got small guts and big heads because we could cook food,” says Stephen Pyne, the world’s leading historian of fire. “We went to the top of the food chain because we could cook landscapes. And we have become a geologic force because our fire technology has so evolved that we have begun to cook the planet.“ The...