The Long Now

Estou aproveitando as "férias" para ler Anathem, de Neal Stephenson. Como a maioria dos livros desse autor, não dá para fazer uma leitura ligeira:

Anathem is a speculative fiction novel by Neal Stephenson, published in 2008. Major themes include the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics and the philosophical debate between Platonic realism and formalism.

Anathem is set on and around the planet Arbre. Thousands of years prior to the events in the novel, society was on the verge of collapse. Intellectuals entered concents, much like monastic communities but focused on intellectual endeavors rather than religious practice. Here, the avout— intellectuals living under vows and separated from saecular society, fraa for male avout and suur for female avout—retain only limited access to tools and technology and are watched over by the Inquisition, which answers to the outside world (known as the Sæcular Power). The avout are forbidden to communicate with people outside the walls of the concent except during Apert, a 10-day observance held only once every year, decade, century, or millennium, depending on the frequency with which a given group of avout is allowed to interact with the Sæcular world. Concents are therefore slow to change, unlike the rest of Arbre, which goes through many cycles of booms and busts.

O interessante é a relação do livro com os projetos da fundação Long Now :

The Long Now Foundation was established in 01996* to develop the Clock and Library projects , as well as to become the seed of a very long-term cultural institution. The Long Now Foundation hopes to provide counterpoint to today's "faster/cheaper" mind set and promote "slower/better" thinking. We hope to creatively foster responsibility in the framework of the next 10,000 years.

Os detalhes da construção do relógio, que é uma parte importante do Anathem, são realmente interessantes.

Sempre fui fascinado por Cápsulas do tempo, e por projetos relacionados como esses da fundação Long Now.