Stewart Brand

Stewart Brand (1938–) created the Whole Earth Catalog (1968–1972), which Steve Jobs called “Google in paperback form.” It modeled a new kind of tool: access to tools, curated for self-sufficiency and understanding.

He co-founded the Long Now Foundation (1996) to foster long-term thinking — hence the 10,000 Year Clock, the Rosetta Project, and seminars that ask what still matters in centuries. The motto: “The long now extends from about 10,000 years ago to about 10,000 years from now.”

Brand’s recurring theme: pace layers. Civilizations operate at multiple speeds — fashion changes fast, culture slower, governance slower still, infrastructure even slower, nature slowest. Healthy systems let each layer move at its own pace while they interact.

His work connects tools, maintenance, deep time, and the responsibility that comes with understanding systems.

Related: [[deep-time]], [[tools]], [[maintenance]], [[ecology]]