How Can the 10,000-Year Clock Last? Millennial Precedent with Alexander Rose

TL;DR

The 10,000-Year Clock could last by placing it underground in a mountain, limiting damage from water and air, and using preservation strategies suited to a 10,000-year timescale. Alexander Rose explains why buried spaces endure, how corrosion and loss threaten artifacts, and why the Clock is designed as a physical icon of long-term thinking. Read on for the project’s reasoning and research.

Transcript

good evening I'm Stuart brand from the long now board and I'll take you back 15 years to 1996 when the law now boards such as it was then met in Colorado to think about building a 10,000 year clock and a guest there was a young man who came up with the idea for a building for this 10,000 year clock was it quite an elegant spiral you could go up and... Read More

Key Insights

• "we the long now foundation was started to foster long term thinking and responsibility" (3:19)
• "things that are buried last for a long time" (1:19)
• "our scale isn't eternity our scale isn't astronomical time" (4:18)
• "water and air combined are probably the two major things they destroy buildings they destroy metal objects they even destroy rock at some point" (5:36)
• "this took you know five million years to create the Grand Canyon" (4:44)

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the purpose of the 10,000-Year Clock?

The Long Now Foundation intends the mechanical Clock to serve as an icon of long-term thinking. Visiting the remote site, seeing the Clock, and discussing the physical object are meant to embody that thinking process.

Q: Why is the Clock designed for a 10,000-year timescale?

The project connects 10,000 years with the span of modern human civilization since the beginning of agriculture and later cities. It does not attempt to address eternity, astronomical time, or geological periods lasting millions of years.

Q: Why would the 10,000-Year Clock be placed underground in a mountain?

The Foundation’s research indicated that buried things can last for a long time. A mountain offered an underground space without simply putting the Clock in a basement that could fill with water.

Q: What most threatens buildings and artifacts over long periods?

Water and air together are described as two major causes of deterioration. They damage buildings, metal objects, and even rock, which can crack when water enters and freezes during winter.

Q: How does corrosion affect the Clock project?

The research includes oxidation and a specific form called galvanic corrosion. The existing project material says the Clock uses corrosion-resistant stainless steel and ceramics, with passivated welds and isolation between dissimilar metals.

Q: How can historically important objects become lost?

Some works disappear even though later sources refer to them, as happened with many Greek tragedies. Other lost objects may remain unknown because no surviving reference reveals that they ever existed.

Q: Why can finding an artifact at the wrong time be harmful?

Artifacts may be discovered when people do not value them or lack the ability to preserve them. Alexander Rose gives the example of Egyptian artifacts brought to England as ballast and dumped in London Harbor during an expansionist era.

Q: How did Alexander Rose become involved with the Long Now Foundation?

In 1996, Rose presented an elegant spiral building concept for the 10,000-Year Clock. The design allowed visitors to go up and come down without turning around, and the Foundation hired the trained industrial designer as its first employee.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The Long Now Foundation aims to foster long-term thinking and responsibility, and one of their projects is building a 10,000-Year Clock.

• The Clock would be housed in an underground space to ensure longevity, and the Foundation has explored various materials and preservation techniques to make it last.

• Research has shown that water and air are major factors that contribute to deterioration, so materials with high resistance to corrosion, such as stainless steel and ceramics, are used.

• Maintaining the Clock and creating a long-term institution are crucial for its preservation, along with potential strategies like creating an ablative layer or encasing it in valuable materials.