In the vast expanse of West Texas, USA, hidden within a towering mountain, a colossal timekeeping device silently measures each second, minute, and even century.
Billionaire Jeff Bezos.
Billionaire Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is collaborating with computer scientist Danny Hillis to create a clock that can challenge the concept of time, specifically one that lasts up to 10,000 years.
This idea originated with Danny Hillis in the 1980s and has been realized through the Long Now Foundation. This clock serves as a reminder of the importance of long-term thinking. Hillis envisioned a clock that ticks just once a year, where the century hand moves every 100 years, and a cuckoo bird appears once every millennium.
This clock is not merely a gigantic machine; it represents the concept of time and encourages people to envision possibilities beyond the boundaries of their lives.
This clock is not merely a gigantic machine.
Billionaire Bezos has contributed $42 million to this project. According to the co-founder of the Long Now Foundation, this clock aims to stimulate thinking and alter people’s perceptions of time, much like how images of Earth taken from space have changed perceptions of our surroundings.
The 10,000-year clock, standing several stories tall, is located within a Texas mountain. Its face is meticulously designed, and the chime is composed by conductor Brian Eno. Although the completion date for the clock is still unknown, construction began in 2018 with detailed preparatory work, including digging a shaft 152 meters deep from many years prior.
The 10,000-year clock standing several stories tall in a Texas mountain.
While the millennium clock is a technical masterpiece and ambitious endeavor, it has also faced criticism. Some view it as a frivolous project by billionaires.
Ultimately, only time will tell if this long-term thinking experiment serves as a beacon or a foolish endeavor of humanity.
