The idea itself of a clock designed to run 10,000 years is incredible: on the one hand preposterous, ridiculous, pharaonic even. My first reaction was to think that the idea was a bit crazy, and I could not see the point to such a construct. The process that took me from absurd to enthusiastic follows the words of this book.
Only if we seriously work on projects for our deep future, can we come to respect and care for it, like we would our personal descendants. And I do believe many of the most complicated problems we face today seem to transform and become less severe in the perspective of millennia ahead for our species. And new tricky classes of problems gain in importance, it is my running question whether humanity will manage to start paying attention to the threats that most endanger its long-term survival.
The clock of the long now, matters as an idea even before its real construction. ( )

I wish that all of our thinking could extend out 10,000 years, a necessity that becomes ever more true with the constant decline of our attention spans. ( )

Great idea, pretty terrible book. ( )

Anathem is one of my all-time favorite books, but this still has interesting insights on levels of interaction between fashion, culture, law, infrastructure, etc ( )

A great book that never misses its mark. It entertains, informs, and educates the reader all throughout its duration.

Recommended for thinkers, philosophers, academics, and students. ( )