The Statues Walked -- What Really Happened on Easter Island, presented by Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo
Dates:
Thu Jan 17, 2013 19:30 - Thu Jan 17, 2013
Location:
San Francisco,
California
United States of America
United States of America
Was it ecocide? The collapse of the mini-civilization on Easter Island (Rapa Nui) has long been considered one of the great Green morality tales. Once the people there cut down the last tree, story goes, they were doomed. Their famous statues were an arms race that completed the exhaustion of their all-too-finite resources. Moral of the story: Easter Island equals Earth Island: we must not repeat its tragedy with the planet.
It’s a satisfying tale, but apparently wrong. The reality is far more interesting.
In fact the lesson of Rapa Nui is how to get ecological caretaking right, not wrong. Its people appear to have worked out an astutely delicate relationship to each other and to the austere ecology of their tiny island and its poor soil. They were never violent. The astonishing statues appear to have been an inherent part of how they managed population and ecological balance on their desert island. (Their method of moving the huge statues was clever and surprisingly easy---they walked them upright. See the amazing demonstration video!) The famous collapse came from a familiar external source---European diseases and enslavement, the same as everywhere else in the Americas and the Pacific.
All this is in a thoroughly persuasive book by an archaeologist and an anthropologist who did extensive fieldwork and historical study on Easter Island--- THE STATUES THAT WALKED: Unraveling the Mystery of Easter Island, by Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo. The authors present their case live in January’s SALT talk.
Seminar hosted by Stewart Brand
http://www.longnow.org/people/board/sb1/
Advance Tickets Recommended - Tickets are $10
http://longnow.org/seminars/02013/jan/17/statues-walked-what-really-happened-easter-island/
Long Now Members get complimentary tickets
https://longnow.org/membership/
There will be a reception at The Long Now Museum & Store following the Seminar
http://www.longnow.org/contact/
Long Now Seminar Podcasts
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/salt-seminars-about-long-term/id186908455
About the Series:
The Seminars About Long-term Thinking were started in 02003 to build a coherent, compelling body of ideas about long-term thinking, to help nudge civilization toward Long Now's goal of making long-term thinking automatic and common instead of difficult and rare.
It’s a satisfying tale, but apparently wrong. The reality is far more interesting.
In fact the lesson of Rapa Nui is how to get ecological caretaking right, not wrong. Its people appear to have worked out an astutely delicate relationship to each other and to the austere ecology of their tiny island and its poor soil. They were never violent. The astonishing statues appear to have been an inherent part of how they managed population and ecological balance on their desert island. (Their method of moving the huge statues was clever and surprisingly easy---they walked them upright. See the amazing demonstration video!) The famous collapse came from a familiar external source---European diseases and enslavement, the same as everywhere else in the Americas and the Pacific.
All this is in a thoroughly persuasive book by an archaeologist and an anthropologist who did extensive fieldwork and historical study on Easter Island--- THE STATUES THAT WALKED: Unraveling the Mystery of Easter Island, by Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo. The authors present their case live in January’s SALT talk.
Seminar hosted by Stewart Brand
http://www.longnow.org/people/board/sb1/
Advance Tickets Recommended - Tickets are $10
http://longnow.org/seminars/02013/jan/17/statues-walked-what-really-happened-easter-island/
Long Now Members get complimentary tickets
https://longnow.org/membership/
There will be a reception at The Long Now Museum & Store following the Seminar
http://www.longnow.org/contact/
Long Now Seminar Podcasts
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/salt-seminars-about-long-term/id186908455
About the Series:
The Seminars About Long-term Thinking were started in 02003 to build a coherent, compelling body of ideas about long-term thinking, to help nudge civilization toward Long Now's goal of making long-term thinking automatic and common instead of difficult and rare.
Laura Cunningham presents Ten Millennia of California Ecology
Dates:
Mon Oct 17, 2011 19:30 - Mon Oct 17, 2011
Location:
San Francisco,
California
United States of America
United States of America
The Long Now Foundation's monthly series Seminars About Long-term Thinking
Ecologically, the past is always present if you know where and how to look. Paleontologist-biologist-artist Laura Cunningham spent 20 years exploring California's archives and relic lands to reconstruct exactly what life used to look like here over the past 10,000 years. Her beautiful images and her insights about long-period ecological change are collected in her new book, A STATE OF CHANGE: Forgotten Landscapes of California.
Like many regions, California is busy restoring portions of the natural environment to previous conditions---native meadows, riparian woodlands, salt marshes, old-growth forests, along with the animals that used to populate them. But there is no static past to restore TO. With Cunningham's guidance we can choose to restore to a particular period: say, before the white invasion; or, during the Medieval Warm Period; or, before the human invasion; or, during the Ice Ages. With her inspiration, we can begin to envisage the ecological changes coming over the next 10,000 years.
Seminar hosted by Stewart Brand
Advance Tickets Recommended - Tickets are $10
Long Now Members get complimentary tickets
Live Audio Stream of the Seminar for Long Now Members
There will be a reception at The Long Now Museum & Store following the Seminar
About the Series:
The Seminars About Long-term Thinking were started in 02003 to build a coherent, compelling body of ideas about long-term thinking, to help nudge civilization toward Long Now's goal of making long-term thinking automatic and common instead of difficult and rare.
Ecologically, the past is always present if you know where and how to look. Paleontologist-biologist-artist Laura Cunningham spent 20 years exploring California's archives and relic lands to reconstruct exactly what life used to look like here over the past 10,000 years. Her beautiful images and her insights about long-period ecological change are collected in her new book, A STATE OF CHANGE: Forgotten Landscapes of California.
Like many regions, California is busy restoring portions of the natural environment to previous conditions---native meadows, riparian woodlands, salt marshes, old-growth forests, along with the animals that used to populate them. But there is no static past to restore TO. With Cunningham's guidance we can choose to restore to a particular period: say, before the white invasion; or, during the Medieval Warm Period; or, before the human invasion; or, during the Ice Ages. With her inspiration, we can begin to envisage the ecological changes coming over the next 10,000 years.
Seminar hosted by Stewart Brand
Advance Tickets Recommended - Tickets are $10
Long Now Members get complimentary tickets
Live Audio Stream of the Seminar for Long Now Members
There will be a reception at The Long Now Museum & Store following the Seminar
About the Series:
The Seminars About Long-term Thinking were started in 02003 to build a coherent, compelling body of ideas about long-term thinking, to help nudge civilization toward Long Now's goal of making long-term thinking automatic and common instead of difficult and rare.
Mechanicrawl
Dates:
Sat Sep 24, 2011 10:00 - Sat Sep 24, 2011
Location:
San Francisco,
California
United States of America
United States of America
Spend a delightful day exploring the mechanical marvels along San Francisco's North Shore. See giant running steam engines, turn-of-the-century automata, mechanical computers, a wave organ, an 8 foot high mechanical planetarium, vintage steam boats and more...
You can start your Mechanicrawl at any of the participating locations: the Exploratorium, Fort Mason Center, The Long Now Museum and Store, Musee Mecanique, San Francisco Maritime Park, SS Jeremiah O'Brien, USS Pampanito or the Wave Organ.
You'll be able to map your own route for the event and spend as much time at each location as you'd like. We encourage you to walk, bicycle or use public transport for Mechanicrawl; maps, featured tours and demonstrations and additional info will be listed on the website.
Free for members of Long Now, Exploratorium, SS Jeremiah O'Brien & The SF Maritime Park Association - join any of these organizations today to get your free tickets!
One ticket gets you in to all attractions • Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for children, students and seniors • Children 6 and under can attend for free • All tickets must be reserved or purchased online.
You can start your Mechanicrawl at any of the participating locations: the Exploratorium, Fort Mason Center, The Long Now Museum and Store, Musee Mecanique, San Francisco Maritime Park, SS Jeremiah O'Brien, USS Pampanito or the Wave Organ.
You'll be able to map your own route for the event and spend as much time at each location as you'd like. We encourage you to walk, bicycle or use public transport for Mechanicrawl; maps, featured tours and demonstrations and additional info will be listed on the website.
Free for members of Long Now, Exploratorium, SS Jeremiah O'Brien & The SF Maritime Park Association - join any of these organizations today to get your free tickets!
One ticket gets you in to all attractions • Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for children, students and seniors • Children 6 and under can attend for free • All tickets must be reserved or purchased online.
Longplayer San Francisco
Dates:
Sat Oct 16, 2010 00:00 - Wed Sep 08, 2010
The Long Now Foundation presents
Longplayer San Francisco
1,000 years in three simultaneous acts
Act 1: Jem Finer's Longplayer is a 1,000 year long composition that's been playing in one form or another since the beginning of the millennium. For 1,000 minutes this October 16, it takes the form of 18 musicians playing hundreds of singing bowls on a 60 foot-wide custom-built instrument in YBCA's Forum.
Act 2: Longplayer will be presented with the Long Conversation, an epic relay of one-to-one conversations among some of the Bay Area's most interesting minds.
Act 3: Interpreting the Long Conversation in real time will be a data visualization performance by Sosolimited; an art and technology studio out of M.I.T.
Tickets are good for all events; the 6 hour Long Conversation, performance by Sosolimited and the 16.6 hour Longplayer performance. There is additional information at the end of the release.
Time:
7:00 am to 11:40 pm
* Longplayer will be performed from 7:00 am to 11:40 pm.
* Long Conversation & Sosolimited will take place from 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
Tickets:
$28 general admission
* http://longnow.org/longplayer/
* Limited Seating, seats not guaranteed.
* Tickets are good for all 3 events.
* Ins and outs are encouraged.
Members of partner organizations receive one free ticket:
* The Long Now Foundation
* Contemporary Jewish Museum
* Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Longplayer San Francisco
1,000 years in three simultaneous acts
Act 1: Jem Finer's Longplayer is a 1,000 year long composition that's been playing in one form or another since the beginning of the millennium. For 1,000 minutes this October 16, it takes the form of 18 musicians playing hundreds of singing bowls on a 60 foot-wide custom-built instrument in YBCA's Forum.
Act 2: Longplayer will be presented with the Long Conversation, an epic relay of one-to-one conversations among some of the Bay Area's most interesting minds.
Act 3: Interpreting the Long Conversation in real time will be a data visualization performance by Sosolimited; an art and technology studio out of M.I.T.
Tickets are good for all events; the 6 hour Long Conversation, performance by Sosolimited and the 16.6 hour Longplayer performance. There is additional information at the end of the release.
Time:
7:00 am to 11:40 pm
* Longplayer will be performed from 7:00 am to 11:40 pm.
* Long Conversation & Sosolimited will take place from 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
Tickets:
$28 general admission
* http://longnow.org/longplayer/
* Limited Seating, seats not guaranteed.
* Tickets are good for all 3 events.
* Ins and outs are encouraged.
Members of partner organizations receive one free ticket:
* The Long Now Foundation
* Contemporary Jewish Museum
* Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Wayne Clough: Smithsonian Forever
Dates:
Mon Aug 17, 2009 00:00 - Mon Jul 20, 2009
The Long Now Foundation's monthly series Seminars About Long-term Thinking
http://www.longnow.org/projects/seminars/
Wayne Clough presents:
Smithsonian Forever
Wayne Clough is the 12th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. In July 1998 he took the reins of the world's largest museum and research complex and has since initiated long-range planning for the Smithsonian that includes increasing its accessibility.
Many of the 137 million objects in the Institution's collection will be digitized and made available to the public along with curatorial content produced by Smithsonian experts.
The Seminars About Long-term Thinking were started in 02003 to build a coherent, compelling body of ideas about long-term thinking, to help nudge civilization toward Long Now's goal of making long-term thinking automatic and common instead of difficult and rare.
Seminar hosted by Stewart Brand.
www.longnow.org
Monday August 17, 02009
Doors open 7:00pm, talk at 7:30pm lasting ~1.5 hours
Advance Tickets Recommended
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/74202
Tickets are $10
Long Now Members can reserve 2 complimentary seats.
https://secure.longnow.org/members/
The Cowell Theater at
Fort Mason Center, Pier 2
San Francisco, CA 94123
http://www.fortmason.org/directions/index.shtml
Fort Mason Center is a destination for thought provoking programs, events and organizations which support and reflect the evolving cultural fabric of San Francisco.
There will be a reception at The Long Now Museum & Store following the Seminar.
http://www.longnow.org/contact/
Image of the Speaker
http://media.longnow.org/files/2/020090817_clough.jpg
For more information contact:
Danielle Engelman
Community Development Director
danielle@longnow.org
415.561.6582 x1
http://www.longnow.org/projects/seminars/
Wayne Clough presents:
Smithsonian Forever
Wayne Clough is the 12th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. In July 1998 he took the reins of the world's largest museum and research complex and has since initiated long-range planning for the Smithsonian that includes increasing its accessibility.
Many of the 137 million objects in the Institution's collection will be digitized and made available to the public along with curatorial content produced by Smithsonian experts.
The Seminars About Long-term Thinking were started in 02003 to build a coherent, compelling body of ideas about long-term thinking, to help nudge civilization toward Long Now's goal of making long-term thinking automatic and common instead of difficult and rare.
Seminar hosted by Stewart Brand.
www.longnow.org
Monday August 17, 02009
Doors open 7:00pm, talk at 7:30pm lasting ~1.5 hours
Advance Tickets Recommended
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/74202
Tickets are $10
Long Now Members can reserve 2 complimentary seats.
https://secure.longnow.org/members/
The Cowell Theater at
Fort Mason Center, Pier 2
San Francisco, CA 94123
http://www.fortmason.org/directions/index.shtml
Fort Mason Center is a destination for thought provoking programs, events and organizations which support and reflect the evolving cultural fabric of San Francisco.
There will be a reception at The Long Now Museum & Store following the Seminar.
http://www.longnow.org/contact/
Image of the Speaker
http://media.longnow.org/files/2/020090817_clough.jpg
For more information contact:
Danielle Engelman
Community Development Director
danielle@longnow.org
415.561.6582 x1
