The Long Now Foundation

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Markof: One of the pieces that is really important, as the book kind of comes to a close, is the long now foundation. This idea of building this ten thousand year clock and like a library associated with it,. That would promote long term thinking, so they say. And i feel like this kind of obsession with long term thinking goes back. Markof: Yet certain ends it becomes really dangerous, right, where you say, oh, well, you know, we can lose 90 % of humanity, because in a thousand years, that ten percent of humanity will create a whole new world.

Paris Marx is joined by Malcolm Harris to discuss the legacy of Stewart Brand and why the myth we’re often told about him overstates the reality of his impact.

Malcolm Harris is the author of Kids These Days, Shit is Fucked Up and Bullshit, and his forthcoming book Palo Alto. He also writes for New York Magazine. Follow Malcolm on Twitter at @BigMeanInternet.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Malcolm Harris wrote a critical review of John Markoff’s Whole Earth: The Many Lives of Stewart Brand.
Benjamin Kunkel also wrote a critical review of Whole Earth.
The Stewart Brand documentary We Are As Gods about his quest to bring back wholly mammoths to solve climate change is slowly being rolled out after two years of delay and seeming lack of sales interest.
Brand’s Long Now Foundation is building a 10,000-year clock in Texas that’s funded by Jeff Bezos.
We also mention Fred Turner’s From Counterculture to Cyberculture.

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