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Long-Term Thinking Is Dead
Scientists call it short-termism, and we don’t realize how bad it is for us
Here is a fascinating tale to ponder about:
Founded in 1379, New College is one of Oxford’s oldest.
It houses a splendid dining hall — with a magnificent oak beam ceiling.
At some point in time, it was found that the oak beams were infested with beetles. They would need to be replaced. But how to find such fine quality oak again? The college struggled to find an answer for months.
What happened next?
At this point, Stewart Brand says in his book How Buildings Learn —
One of the Junior Fellows stuck his neck out and suggested that there might be some worthy oaks on the College lands. These colleges are endowed with pieces of land scattered across the country which are run by a college Forester. They called in the College Forester, who of course had not been near the college itself for some years, and asked him if there were any oaks for possible use.
