the long now

After lunch on Friday, we all gathered in the dining room to listen to a presentation from Alexander, a guest expert from an incredible organization called the Long Now Foundation. They are currently in the process of designing and building a clock that will keep track of time for the next 10,000 years - what better way to explore the concept of time and clocks! Quinn, one of the students from the Megaband, contacted the Long Now a couple weeks ago looking for an expert speaker for the band and was met with Alexander's enthusiasm and interest in coming in to speak. Alexander ended up doing a slideshow presentation for the whole school for more than thirty minutes about the 10,000 year clock - and his young audience was captivated!He talked about different monuments that have stood the test of time and the reasons they continue to exist in human consciousness, and how the Long Now has thought about keeping the 10,000 year clock in future civilization's minds. How will the clock stay preserved? How will it stay powered? How can we imagine 10,000 years in the future, and how can we communicate what the clock is to a future that might have lost track of what we know now? What does 10,000 years actually look like? The staff was all extremely proud of the Brightworks kids as they listened with great respect and asked very thoughtful questions throughout.A big thank you to Alexander from the Long Now for coming in and brightening our minds, and thanks to Quinn for reaching out and making this happen!