Long Now Talks

Ryan North

How to Invent Everything

How would someone fare if they were dropped into a randomly chosen period in history? Would they have any relevant knowledge to share, or ability to invent crucial technologies given the period's constraints? Ryan North uses these hypothetical questions to explore the technological and implicit knowledge underpinning modern civilization, offering a practical guide of how one could rebuild civilization from the ground up.

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Long Now Talks are made possible through the generous support of our lead sponsor Anthropic,the Long Now Board of Directors, key supporters Ken & Maddy Dychtwald, Garrett Gruener & Amy Slater, The Jackson Square Partners Foundation,Greg Stikeleather, and Lawrence Wilkinson, and our members and supporters worldwide.
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The Long Now Foundation is a nonprofit established in 01996 to foster long-term thinking. Our work encourages imagination at the timescale of civilization — the next and last 10,000 years — a timespan we call the long now.

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