Long Now Foundation

Challenges that feel impossible to tackle within a single human lifetime become conceivable when you have a longer timescale to work with. Today is a day to take the long view. Join our community of long-term thinking, 02026 is going to be a good one. na2.hubs.ly/H02frJ50

Want more time in The Untimely with Bayo Akomolafe? Join us for a 3-part interactive workshop with Bayo Akomolafe, a postactivist philosopher, poet, and storyteller. Experience alternative tempos that might help reorient our thinking, behavior, and decision-making for the long term. The series begins May 21, hosted by @denisehearn_ in partnership with @interintellect_ . Register here: interintellect.com/series/the-unt…

In Morocco, an ancient technology could be the solution to water shortages plaguing desert regions. While desalination takes extravagant amounts of energy and water, qanats are an elegant alternative that taps groundwater. What many assumed was a relic of the past, @grescoe writes, is actually still in use in staggering quantities. This fact was uncovered by a few dedicated scientists using satellite imagery and conversations with families who have passed down these “mother wells” for generations. Read the full story on Ideas: longnow.org/ideas/qanats-m…

This present moment used to the unimaginable future @longnow

Need a new excuse to visit The Interval, our award-winning bar, café, and library? This month’s cocktail special is worth the trip alone. May’s Short Here is the Velvet Fedora. John describes it as “the whiskey cousin of a margarita,” and a riff on the Ninth Ward. The Ninth Ward is traditionally a spicy, citrus-forward cocktail made with bourbon, and named after the eastside district of New Orleans. John swapped the bourbon for the floral, velvety notes of Japanese whisky, creating something refreshing and exceptionally smooth. Ingredients: Nikka Days Japanese whiskey Velvet Falernum Elderflower liqueur Creole bitters Elderflower salted rim On the menu through the end of May. See the full menu of craft cocktails, tea, and coffee here: na2.hubs.ly/H05q64f0

A wild workshop for your calendar: Artist/philosopher Jonathon Keats and Berggruen Press are hosting an event inspired by medieval bestiaries. Participants create their own handmade books while exploring the more-than-human. The books are collected in a physical and digital archive at na2.hubs.ly/H05gLlx0. Through exhibitions and the website, the public can learn from flora and fauna globally, and contribute books of their own making. The Library of the More-Than-Humane supports unstructured, process-based learning from nonhuman teachers, and serves as a critical resource for research on epistemology, ethics, and legal models that reflect and protect the values of nature. Wed May 16 at 6 PM PT. RSVP here: .na2.hubs.ly/H05gQdM0

Are you a researcher, historian, technologist, or otherwise interested human in what past information revolutions can offer us today? Please consider applying to our Long Now Lab, or sharing with others in your network.

How did maximizing stock value become the number one goal in business? The logic of shareholder primacy has been the North Star of corporate decision-making for decades, but @ericries says it’s time to rebel. Watch his full Long Now Talk “Incorruptible by Design” here: na2.hubs.ly/H05j6Jm0

[Call for submissions] Long Now Lab 001.2 is seeking an individual or team to investigate historical epistemic cycles — patterns of technological disruption that result in the breakdown of a society's shared ability to discern truth. Through a series of events and convenings, along with content development and publishing, this Lab will analyze historical ruptures (e.g. papyrus, printing press, social media) to provide insight for navigating the current epistemic crisis brought on by synthetic intelligence and generative media content. Submissions are open now through June 5. Read the full prompt and apply here: na2.hubs.ly/H05l3lF0

More opportunities to connect with Bayo at Long Now are coming soon, stay tuned for a workshop announcement next week, followed by the full episode on YouTube.

What an amazing evening exploring The Untimely with philosopher poet Bayo Akomolafe. Time-bending and consciousness-expanding, he was also laugh-out-loud funny. A Long Now Talk that really got people talking. Special thanks to our incredible co-host Eden Pearlstein of @ayinpress.

How does one engage with the arduous and existential task of long-term thinking? How can we work on civilizational durability without dissolving into ambiguities? We can’t predict the arc of history, nor can we create a checklist for an immortal civilization. As our partners at the Protocol Institute wrote eloquently on Substack: in order to build truly useful tools and frameworks for long-term thinking, we must practice: - researching, to learn what has worked in the past - prototyping, to improve upon existing protocols and create new ones - entrepreneurship, to solve distribution so that what is learned and built actually reaches the people and institutions who need it This is exactly what Long Now Labs seeks to do. Do you have a framework or tool that belongs in the future? Bring your vision to Long Now Labs. Submissions are open: na2.hubs.ly/H05krt50 Read the full post from @tmbr_ss and @denisehearn_ here: na2.hubs.ly/H05krpy0

the whole earth ecosystem lives in my head rent free

[TUNE IN] Tonight (Tues, 5/5) Bayo Akomolafe’s Long Now Talk asks, “What if time misbehaves?” Livestream here: na2.hubs.ly/H05gLD60 More about the Talk here: na2.hubs.ly/H05gQ960

An orrery takes the vast timescales of planetary orbits and compresses them into relative motion. This was mindboggling technology in the early 1700s, when it was first created by clockmaker/inventor George Graham for the Earl of Orrery. The gear ratios encode the real astronomical relationships (e.g. Earth takes 365 days to orbit the Sun, Mars takes 687 days, Jupiter takes ~12 years) so when the gears are cranked the viewer experiences all the planetary timescales at once, with the outer planets circling slower and the inner planets spinning faster. The orrery was an important breakthrough for long-term thinking. The ability to visualize planetary movements in relation to ourselves reminds us that we live inside systems that are intricate, ordered, and interconnected. Drop by Long Now headquarters at The Interval to see the beauty and precision of an orrery in person.

Happening tomorrow. A few tickets left here -> longnow.org/talks/02026-ak…

We are thrilled to host philosopher poet Bayo Akomolafe this Tuesday 5/5 for his Long Now Talk "The Untimely". His work “pushes us to think outside every narrative we take for granted." Tickets are almost sold out, don't miss a memorable, time-bending evening. This event is co-presented by @ayinpress, publisher of 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘩: 𝘈 𝘉𝘢𝘺𝘰 𝘈𝘬𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳, and hosted by Ayin cofounder Eden Pearlstein. More info and tickets here: na2.hubs.ly/H05fbKp0