PERIMITER ACCESSORIES TO THE LONG NOW CLOCK
WEST GATE
EAST GATE
SOUTH GATE
NORTH GATE
Stewart Brand, et. al., of the Long Now Foundation , have proposed the building of a ten-thousand year millennial clock.
This device is intended to provide a conceptual framework for slowing things down a little in this era of 'blink&go' culture that makes a virtue of anything 'faster', creating a speed-addicted environment for a planet of no return.
Brand (Whole Earth Catalog) is credited for almost single-handedly making the familiar NASA/ WholeEarth image available to every person on the planet. He now seems to be proposing much the same by attempting to bring to us a picture of 'whole time'. What both projects share in common is the introduction of some perspective and humility about the true position of our species with respect to the large and largely unforgiving and dispassionate forces of time and space; to back us off a little in our race to consume everything in sight as quickly as possible by presenting to ourselves a larger picture than we can possibly swallow at once.
As with the whole earth image, we need to be impressed that time, too - minute by minute - is a finite resource. Just as individuals use up their time, so too, societies, civilizations, planets, even universes come to time's end. The question is not 'if', but whether we wish, by and for our species, to do so in a way greatly accelerated from what otherwise natural cycles might have accorded us. By giving us the large picture of time -- the Long Now -- perhaps we can begin to understand that our tendency to quick reaction, reflex decision making, instant gratification and similar fast-track behavior does not increase our quality of life and may, indeed, risk future generations to the overarching desire to have-it-all-at-once.
There seems to be some law operating in the universe that says we may, by our own devices, use up much greater amounts of resource, at much faster rates, than is optimal for our design. The corollary of that law also seems to say the trade-off for such short-sighted consumption is premature death. Some type of parity law remains at work, even in the kingdom of desire.
The Long Now project is not meant to be a toy of instant gratification. Even its building is projected to span several hundred years of human effort and thus be preserved and maintained by forces of culture investment and tradition that will help it endure long after the moment of instant gratification, of 'doing it', has worn off. Even contemplating something that must endure for the next 10,000 years or more, other than the half-life of, say, plutonium, is staggering.
It is fitting, I think, to add a side note about Bob Orenstein's work. About a decade ago, Dr. Ornstein brought his long contemplation on the nature of consciousness to fruition with his book " New World New Mind ". In it, he proposes that it is not the large, quick dramatic things -- the things we are hard-wired to detect -- that are apt to be the killers of the future. It is the small errors, the barely perceptible changes, the slight modulations of the expected, the 'safety-checked' scientific applications, persisting over time, that may hold the greatest threat to the longevity of our civilization. Moreover, any effective countermeasure is apt to run contrary to what our nervous systems and their fight-flight mechanics are likely to tell us. Culture and education were, Ornstein speculated, the only tools at hand to make significant change in our customary habits of sensing and appropriately responding to dangers so subtle as to be otherwise invisible.
Ornstein's book was my introduction to the importance of the Long Now, and the reason I now propose a few 'accessories' to the central clock motif; add-ons to further promote devices of education and culture which may be our best hope for survival through the next few thousand years. They are not ideas I am pressing to be immediately incorporated into the Long Now agenda. Simply some ideas which may be good to think about. Take your time. Then you might communicate your own thoughts on the matter to Long Now. I also urge you to visit the Long Now Foundation pages and consider what they have to say about their project.
Accessories for the Long Now Clock
These accessories are intended as perimeter mechanisms proposed for establishment at the primary compass point locations some distance from the Long Now clock itself (perhaps 100km or more from the central clockworks):
West: The Long Message
Proposal: The realization of Isamu Noguchi's "Sculpture to be Seen From Mars" would be built on a desert perimeter apx. 100 km from the central clock, The 'Mars Beacon' would incorporate in its design transmission devices for galaxy-wide broadcast every 1000 years.
'The Long Message' is conceived as an earthworks sculpture which would contain mechanisms capable of sending a message into deep space and across the galaxy. Every 1000 years, the mechanism would activate and a planetary 'progress report' be sent out (from 'lasers' embedded in the eyes?) During interim periods, the 'Mars Beacon' site may used as international 'skate-board park' as well as host important religious festivals.
Round-the-Clock park maintenance would be provided by permanent resident staff comprised of 1) 'Dudes' (later called 'skeeters') who primarily preserve the monument, including maintenance of the transmission device, and perform global & solar-system data gathering during the intramillennial periods; and, 2) 'Priests' (later called 'vallerians') who edit, record and prepare encyclopedic and other data for transmission during the 'hello-festival' held once each 1000 years.
Unlike the central clock, 'Mars Beacon' station would be intended for continuous human occupantion and mission awarness over the 10,000 year journey. We can anticipate that there may be periods when the mission is of no interest, is forgotten or otherwise interrupted. In those cases, one mechanism, designed to endure in an unmanned environment would simply beam the message, "This is an automatic message. The stewards of this transmission facility are no longer here."
EAST: The Long Silence
Proposal: The Proposal for the 'east gate' calls for the construction of a large tripod (perhaps 100' tall) with legs made from trees. The tripod is lashed at the tops, and all exposed parts are preserved and polished - replaced when necessary -
Suspended from the apex of the tripod will be a large diameter metal ring, hanging a few feet above the ground. Beside the tripod will be a large (4-6 foot) striker.
The staff of the Long Silence will be drawn from members of every indigenous culture on the planet. In addition to maintaining the 'Long Silence' mechanism, the staff will be engaged in a project of continuously monitoring the Earth's global health and the status of planetary/solar ecosystems.
The Hundred-Year Cleanup. Toward the end of each century, the staff of the Long Silence would calculate a time for 'gathering up' and so advise the people of the world to set aside enough surplus to feed, clothe and shelter the world's population for an entire year. At the arrival of the Clean-up year, the world's people would end their regular occupations and activities. For the entire succeeding year, they would devote their labor to cleaning up and repairing planetary damage and debris of the preceding century. Surpluses would be released to care for the workers of the Great Cleanup. During that year, the planet would 'power-down' in an attempt to use as little toxic material, non-sustainable method, or resource consumptive practice as possible.
At the start of the 'Year of Cleanup', a pilgrim will be sent from The Long Silence compound to circumnavigate the planet by foot, balloon, sailboat, etc. to examine the major sites of planetary repair work and to survey the general health of the earth and the effort made towards its renewal.
Festival of Sound. On return to the preserve of the Long Silence, the pilgrim will strike the 'Long Silence' ring to signal the beginning of celebrations and the presentation of reports on planetary health by staff of the Long Silence. These reports would be distributed throughout the world to help guide the succeeding hundred years of planet stewardship in its attempt to maintain a balanced and vital earthly environment.
The final reports of each 100 year convocation of the Long Silence will be incorporated into the data of the Long Message.
NORTH & SOUTH node accessories have not yet been sufficiently defined for presentation here. Briefly:
South node: Station of the Large Web:
This will be a place for presenting important elements of planetary as well as universal interactivity. In addition to the presentation of many global 'community' engagements, achievments and inventions, the site will also host a continuous view of the universe from land & space telescopes/observing devices, exhibits of earth history, sounds/sights of the bigbang, celestial cartograpy and presentation.
The Large Web station would also serve as a global site for the study of such community phenomena as war&peace, future studies, inter- tribal/species relations, great events of the planet and universe, information webs and networks and other activites tracking and supporting ideas of healthy community.
North node: Station of the Long Dream. A site of celebration and exploration in personal creativity, art, visioning, myth-making and other experiences which come to us mainly through the practices, cognition and callings of individuals (or people/planets/galaxies as unique entities). The Station of the Long Dream contemplates the idea of the personal vision and the chiasmatic event. It would serve as a center of pataphysical studies: the individual, the unique, the exceptional.
This is the end of my proposal for Perimeter Accessories to the Long Now Clock. start...
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