Why build a 10,000 year clock? It’s a special Clock, designed to be a symbol, an icon for long-term thinking. It’s of monumental scale inside a mountain in West Texas. The father of the 10,000 Year Clock is Danny Hillis. He’s been thinking about and working on the Clock since 1989. Talk about a man with a lot of time on his hands (LOLing at my own joke now). Amazon Founder, CEO and mega-billionaire Jeff Bezos has been helping Danny with the project for the last half dozen years. He will commit an estimated $42 million to the project. As Bezos sees it, humans are now technologically advanced enough that we can create not only extraordinary wonders but also civilization-scale problems. Some long-term thinking will be needed. Whatever that means.

Though visitors will be welcome, visiting the Clock will take a commitment. The nearest airport is several hours away by car, and the foot trail to the 10,000 Year Clock is rugged, rising almost 2,000 feet above the valley floor. Then you’ll need to navigate a series of tunnels and chambers within the Sierra Diablo mountain range (“diablo” might be a clue as to what you might find there). If you are interested in visiting the Clock when it is complete (many years into the future), please subscribe to Clock Interest by emailing a blank message to clockinterest@10000yearclock.net.

Or, if you also have a lot of time on your hands and are a long-term thinker, you can send any interesting ideas to email 10-year-chamber@10000yearclock.net, and they will “add it to the mix of ideas.” More at http://www.10000yearclock.net/

Select Photos from The 10,000 Year Clock Website

Getting there…

will require effort on your part…

and a taste for adventure and love of confined spaces…

but your efforts will be well rewarded by seeing a clock that will perhaps outlive all of humankind…

(scale model, lower right)