Long Now Talk (live!): GEOMETRY of CONSCIOUSNESS
"What is consciousness? Neuroscience can map neural activity with extraordinary detail, yet the relationship between electrical signals and subjective experience remains one of humanity’s most enduring questions."
@longnow.org
A new fiction contest launches this year: The Protopian Prize
Speculative fiction and sci-fi have been part of the Long Now story from the beginning, so we’re thrilled to see the Protopian Prize on the scene. To build a better world, we have to imagine it first.
Submissions open May 1 ->
What if a constitution could molt?
"The fundamental principle to be learned from bugs is that resilience in a variable environment can be successfully managed by development in stages." - Jonathon Keats
longnow.org/ideas/democr...
Join us in celebrating the launch of the Selah by Báyò Akómoláfé on Tuesday, May 5th at 7 p.m PT in San Francisco, CA with @longnow.org. Akómoláfé will be in conversation with Eden Pearlstein, cofounder of Ayin Press and editor of Selah. RSVP here: loom.ly/pRAcHFU
The movable frames of the honey bee hive were developed only a few centuries ago.
Our global agricultural civilization now depends on this fairly new technology that is still evolving: longnow.org/ideas/the-th...
Great to be in conversation with @ericries.bsky.social last week at @longnow.org for the first stop on his Incorruptible book tour! There‘a a not-so-quiet revolution underway — companies embedding their values through economic and legal structures that advance human flourishing.
Listen on any podcast app here: pod.link/186908455/ep...
The ocean is a vast storage facility of memory agents. Ocean organisms use the chemical signatures of seawater for memory and intelligence in ways we can barely imagine.
Scholar Melody Jue explains why we must “deterritorialize the sensorium.”
Watch her full Long Now Talk on YouTube here:
Don’t miss Miolane's upcoming Long Now Talk with Claire Isabel Webb of @berggruen.org, "The Geometry of Consciousness," on Monday, April 20, 02026 at 7PM PT, steaming online : www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6Mv...
More details about the Talk and speakers here: longnow.org/talks/02026-...
We are entering the fifth era of science.
Mathematician @ninamiolane.bsky.social explains, "Instead of hoping AI will magically handle limited, noisy, specialized data, we need experts to tailor algorithms to the realities of fields like biology and medicine."
Read the full article here:
The artwork, created by Jonathon Keats, has 2 components: a land art installation among the world's oldest trees, and a giant arboreal clock built in collaboration with clockmakers @mitakulu.bsky.social and @nicocurio.bsky.social
Learn more about the project here: longnow.org/centuries/
Get a sneak peek into the making-of 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘦, a monumental artwork that tells time with trees.
Follow the story from 11,000-feet at the Long Now Bristlecone Preserve, to the horology workshop, all the way to the @nevadaart.bsky.social museum ->
UTC, our universal clock, was only adopted in 1963. What if we measured time differently—not in hours and seconds, but in centuries, like a Bristlecone Pine? 🌲
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_XK...
A fascinating and career-spanning conversation with Stewart Brand on how he organized Electric Kool-Aid Acid Tests, created the Whole Earth Catalog, inspired the first Earth Day, made the personal computer a reality, and started the Long Now Foundation with @nickgillespie.bsky.social on @reason.com
“A long now is civilization’s ability to remain future-bearing under stress.” - @indyjohar.bsky.social
A planet that has achieved self-awareness ios incredibly rare in this galaxy, let alone the universe. Building a long now, Indy Johar argues in a new essay, is how we preserve it.
Read it here:
This will be a conversation-style talk with @denisehearn.bsky.social, Long Now Director of Strategic Partnerships.
Join us in-person at the Cowell Theater or on the livestream April 7, 02026.
How can an institution stay legible and trustworthy long after its founders are gone? @ericries.bsky.social's Long Now Talk will explore this and more. A conversation for anyone building something meant to last.
Tickets here: longnow.org/talks/02026-...
"Take this as a call to arms. You have an opportunity to become a general in the struggle to preserve a culture."
On the magazines and ephemera that documented hip hop culture, and the urgency of preservation by @abebeame.bsky.social on @defector.com -> defector.com/lost-recipes
Longplayer was created in dialogue with The Long Now Foundation, and serves as a musical experience, an epic artwork, and an experiment in deep time and long-term thinking.
More here longplayer.org and here www.trinitybuoywharf.com/whats-on/lon...
This piece of music is playing continuously without repetition until the year 03000.
In 02000, composer Jem Finer created Longplayer, a 1,000-year composition generated by an algorithm and performed on a set of singing bowls. The piece is evolving slowly over a millennium-long performance.
Tierney Thys, marine biologist, science educator, and National Geographic explorer died last week. Her 02014 talk with Sylvia Earl taught us about the importance of protecting the intelligences of the ocean.
Watch the inspiring conversation here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnbn...
[TUNE IN] Tomorrow (Wed, 3/18) Melody Jue explores how ocean memories can teach us to better steward the planet.
Livestream the talk here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVru...
In his Long Now Talk, "Finally, something good," acclaimed designer Stefan Sagmeister urges us to zoom out. Playful and poignant, Sagmeister's talk transforms long-term data into a new way of seeing human progress.
Watch the full episode: youtu.be/yqQXFtSVEmA
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...
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.
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-...
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-...
