Disrupting traditional western understandings of time that separate human history from natural history, Planetary Temporality recognizes that these two modes of history are now inseparable, and that meeting planetary challenges will require that we go beyond our lived experience of time, to think instead in terms of our deep-time embeddedness in the Earth system.
In contrast to anthropocentric “global” issues, “planetary” issues such as climate change and biodiversity operate on vastly different and ultimately ahuman timescales - encompassing geological epochs, evolutionary processes, and the deep history of life on Earth. How can we incorporate these larger, longer systems into our human experience of the planet, and make wiser choices now that support the flourishing of all life for millennia to come?
Upcoming Talks
Long Now Talks are made possible by David and Abby Rumsey, Kim Polese, The Kaphan Foundation, Garrett Gruener, Scorpio Rising Fund, Peter Baumann, Brian Eno, Greg Stikeleather, Cameo Wood, Ping Fu, Peter Schwartz, Lawrence Wilkinson, Ken and Maddy Dychtwald, Future Ventures, Ken and Jackie Broad, AtoB, WHH Foundation, Stewart Brand and Ryan Phelan, Jackson Square Partners Foundation, and The Long Now Members. We would also like to recognize George Cowan (01920 - 02012) for being the first to sponsor this series.
Learn about sponsorship
Long Now Talks are made possible through the generous support of The Long Now Membership and our Seminar Sponsors. We offer $5,000 and $15,000 annual Sponsorships, both of which entitle the sponsor and a guest to reserved seating at all Long Now seminars and special events. In addition, we invite $15,000 Sponsors to attend dinner with the speaker after each Seminar, and $5,000 Sponsors may choose to attend any four dinners during the sponsored year. For more information about donations and Seminar Sponsorship, please contact donate@longnow.org. We are a public 501(c)(3) non-profit, and donations to us are always tax deductible.
What is the long now?
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.