How long is your perspective? It may be more common to think about having a wide or narrow perspective, but what about the other dimension of our view…time? Designers constantly face down deadlines that force one’s focus on the immediate, right here, right now. Yet what would design look like in “the long now?” The folks at The Long Now Foundation have more than a few ideas about that.
From a 10,000 year clock to archival projects like the Library of Human Languages to long bets, the foundation is committed to growing long-term thinking and instilling a sense of responsibility for designers to consider their work into the next 10,000 years. The clock project alone is very exciting and elegant in both engineering and aesthetics. You are sure to be challenged and inspired by its design requirements and solutions.
The following excerpt from their site introduces their take on “now.”
“The Long Now Foundation was established in 01996* to develop the Clock and Library projects, as well as to become the seed of a very long-term cultural institution. The Long Now Foundation hopes to provide a counterpoint to today’s accelerating culture and help make long-term thinking more common. We hope to creatively foster responsibility in the framework of the next 10,000 years.”
So what responsibilities do we hold as designers with regard to the timeframe for the impact of our work? With life seeming to accelerate with each passing day, each new technology, how can we slow down enough to think long-term? How do we expand our view bringing greater perspective? How do we not only solve today’s problems but also solve, or prevent altogether, those of the future?
It’s a great time to be a designer! Enjoy!