The Long Now Foundation, established in 1996, is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization based in San Francisco that seeks to become the seed of a very long-term cultural institution. It aims to provide a counterpoint to what it views as today’s “faster/cheaper” mindset and to promote “slower/better” thinking. The Long Now Foundation hopes to “creatively foster responsibility” in the framework of the next 10,000 years, and so uses 5-digit dates to address the Year 10,000 problem (e.g., by writing “02014” rather than “2014”).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Now_Foundation
There are futurists who make predictions, and there are futurists who set in motion things that will be mostly useful in the future. In the latter category is an extraordinary group of people – and I feel I would trust them more (with our future) than any other group. Easily.
Check out this list of amazing people, and what they would contribute to a library designed to kickstart a new civilisation (after a catastrophe perhaps) and sustain it:
- Brian Eno – A list of books on Long-term thinking
- Stewart Brand – Selections he made from his personal libraries
- Neal Stephenson – A selection of useful history books
- Violet Blue – Books on human sexuality
- Kevin Kelly – A huge list of appropriate technology and other books from his library
- Danny Hillis – Selections from his home and work libraries
- Hugh Howey – Donated a special edition set of his Silo Saga
- Megan and Rick Prelinger – Selections made during a walk through of the Prelinger Library
- Ami Burnham – A collection of the best books on reproduction and birth
- Alex Steffen – Books on Futurism
- Jill Tartar – First Contact
- Bruce Sterling – Science Fiction
- David Brin – Science Fiction
I have long pondered over the books and information that would be most important to keep. These learned folk are providing great input.