88 Prompts for Long Term Thinking

In January 2019 I wrote out scores of prompts for thinking long term that I felt should inform the foundation I was later co-chair of, The Long Now Foundation. These axioms were only shared internally, but I feel they would be useful to anyone trying to take a long view so I present them here. 1 Our aim is to improve the present by remembering the future. 2 Our religion is change. 3 We promote tools and systems that manage the resources of change. 4 Over time, the process of change itself changes, compounding change. 5 We are making the world safe for continuous compounding change. 6 The system that best manages compounded change is civilization. 7 We favor tools that operate upon civilization. 8 Civilization is long-term thinking; Long-term thinking is civilization. 9 We promote long-term thinking instead of long-term planning. 10 Plans vs perspective: Long-term planning is a type of answer; because answers are fixed they can become irrelevant during compounding change. 11 Long-term…