Long Now Foundation

Long Now Foundation The Long Now Foundation is a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization formed in 1996 to encourage long-term thinking about civilization, technology, and cultural heritage. Founded by Stewart Brand, Brian Eno, and Danny Hillis, it engages in projects that span engineering, archival science, and speculative design, interacting with institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, and the Internet Archive. Its activities intersect with debates involving Fermi paradox, Anthropocene, and longevity research linked to organizations like the Salk Institute and the Buck Institute for Research on Aging.

History

The organization was launched at a summit featuring figures from Wired (magazine), Whole Earth Catalog, and The WELL, with early patrons including technologists from Xerox PARC and researchers from MIT Media Lab. In the late 1990s the Foundation convened seminars with speakers such as Paul Saffo, Freeman Dyson, James Lovelock, and Jared Diamond, drawing the attention of cultural institutions like the Tate Modern and universities such as Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley. The Long Now's timeline of initiatives runs parallel to projects by Google X, the RAND Corporation, and The Long Now's Clock Project collaborators, and it has consulted with archives including The National Archives and museums like the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Its evolution reflects influences from earlier futurist efforts such as The Millennium Project, Club of Rome, and figures like Buckminster Fuller and Norbert Wiener.

Projects and Initiatives

Signature undertakings include the 10,000-year clock, conceived by Danny Hillis and engineered with partners such as The Long Now's Clock Project engineers and firms connected to Blue Origin and Amazon. The Foundation's Rosetta Project assembled linguistic data alongside researchers from Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, The Endangered Languages Project, and archives like SIL International. The organization curates the Long Now Seminars series featuring speakers such as Neil Gaiman, Paul Saffo, Kevin Kelly, and Brian Eno, hosted in venues associated with Fort Mason Center and academic partners like Oxford University and Harvard University. Other initiatives include the Long Bets prediction platform engaging thinkers from Stephen Jay Gould's legacy to contemporary commentators associated with Edge Foundation and the compilation of cultural artifacts comparable to efforts by Project Gutenberg and the Internet Archive. Collaborative conservation and seedbank dialogues have linked the Foundation to entities such as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Kew Gardens, and the National Park Service.

Governance and Funding

The Foundation's board and advisors have included technologists and cultural figures from PayPal, Apple Inc., and Microsoft Research, and scholars with affiliations to MIT, Caltech, and Princeton University. Funding sources have combined private philanthropy from individuals associated with Mozilla Foundation, foundations like Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and corporate grants from firms in the Silicon Valley ecosystem including investors from Sequoia Capital and backers linked to Y Combinator. Financial governance follows nonprofit practices observed by organizations such as The Rockefeller Foundation and Ford Foundation, while collaborations for specific projects have received in-kind support from institutions like Los Alamos National Laboratory and technical partnerships reminiscent of those between NASA and university laboratories.

Criticism and Controversies

Critics have compared Long Now's techno-cultural emphasis to debates surrounding Silicon Valley philanthropy, the Singularity University controversies, and critiques of futurism found in works by Naomi Klein and Evgeny Morozov. Skeptics question the Clock’s feasibility in the tradition of grand engineering proposals critiqued after projects like Concorde and Boeing 747 program reviews, and some archivists argue its approaches echo contested practices discussed in relation to UNESCO and cultural heritage repatriation disputes involving museums such as the British Museum. Ethical concerns have been raised about long-term stewardship and exclusion similar to debates around colonialism-era collections and controversies involving institutions like Smithsonian Institution and its past curatorial decisions. Transparency and governance have also been discussed in the context of nonprofit scrutiny exercised by entities like ProPublica and watchdog analyses similar to reviews of other high-profile philanthropic ventures.

Cultural Impact and Influence

The Foundation has influenced public discourse through seminars, publications, and collaborations that intersect with speculative fiction authors such as Neal Stephenson and Ursula K. Le Guin, musicians and artists including Brian Eno and Ryoji Ikeda, and design communities aligned with IDEO and Arup Group. Its ideas have permeated curricula at institutions like MIT Media Lab and Goldsmiths, University of London, and informed museum exhibitions at venues such as Tate Modern and SFMOMA. The Long Now’s framing of deep time has been cited in journalism from outlets like The New York Times, The Guardian, and Wired (magazine), and referenced in policy dialogues involving think tanks such as Council on Foreign Relations and Brookings Institution. Its cultural footprint resonates with long-duration projects such as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and artistic commissions by Documenta and the Venice Biennale.

Category:Non-profit organizations based in San Francisco Category:Futures studies organizations