The folks at the LongNow.org Foundation have built a 10,000 year clock to click every 100 years and chime every 1,000 years, but you’ll need to stick around to hear it.
The idea is to set a clock for the amount of time we’ve been hanging out since the agricultural age kicked in. Brian Eno (aka God) was one of the original conceptual artists behind the LongNow movement, which in simple terms promotes long term thinking; slow down, you move too fast.
Funded by Jeff Bezos and designed by a team lead by Danny Hillis, one of the creators of modern parallel computer technology and Stewart Brand of The Whole Earth Catalogue, The Clock of the Long Now is the manifestation of this idea and will eventually sit in the side of a cliff near Van Horn, Texas. For real.
Philosophically, The LongNow had a positive impact on this artist as a young man; long-term thinking afforded me my superpower: A level of patience unparalleled by any of my peers; there’s a perception that comes with the LongNow that allows one to wait and see; a Taoist approach I found Prince shared with his visions of the Future.
A childhood friend once said to me on New Year’s Eve, “New Year’s Eve is just another day, no reason to get so caught up in it.” But the truth is, it matters. We like to reset clocks. To start over. A fresh start!! Another chance to get things right.
This year, 2020 suggests great promise: Our Political landscape promises to be a mess; VR promises to tease the market and fail; Blockchain promises to annoy and TikTok promises to disrupt (What’s TikTok?..Ok, Boomer...).
One promise that is certain: Stories will be told.
In 2020, I will have my first Storylines Connect client. I’m not sure who they will be, but I’m confident they will receive tremendous value from the work we do together.
I have several opportunities to provide a pilot program; which one will sign up first remains to be seen, but in the big picture, The LongNow, I’m patient.
Joe Wachs
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