There are a lot of comments here expressing concern for the longevity of the clock due to vandalism and human activity. The inspiring thing about this project to me is the optimism that something like this can be exposed to the public and that we will respect it for 10,000 years.
Sorry, but “yeah right” is what I thought when I read your optimism that people will respect something for 10,000 years.
Look at everything ISIS and the Taliban blew up. Look at all of the random vandalism everywhere. There was once a cool balanced rock near Fredericksburg, Texas — until in 1986 vandals blew it up with dynamite for no reason other than “fun.” I visited that place when I was a little kid and I was 9 when it was destroyed.
Be inspired — but be disappointed. Humanity is a dark and imperfect species. That’s why I treat utopians, Communists, and socialists with such contempt — because they base entire economic philosophies on a naïve hope of the perfection of man rather than acknowledging man’s inherent desire for his own self-interest.
I don’t know what will happen to the clock. What I know is someone put in the time to make it and express their idea now. In this moment in time that inspires me.
What does a defeatist attitude of dwelling only on the negative do to improve the human condition?
The human condition is as good as it can be at this point in time - To try to change it, damages it. E.g. A child feels loved when they're accepted as they are, rather than pushing onto it things the parents wished they had done or ideals the parents wished they lived by.
Sometimes, to yield to the current gives strength.
I think this is a totally fair point of view. It is the flip side of optimism. Forgive me for bashing the obvious in the head here, but this point of view is entirely necessary and right within its purview. You can't have optimism without pessimism, no matter how hard you try.
These two points of view provide balance. You have to decide where you stand relative to this pendulum. Humanity will protect what it finds valuable. Valuable in what way will be the decision. We can make moral judgements now, based on where we stand in this moment, but the future will make its own decisions.
