Film Screening: We Are As Gods

A screening of We Are As Gods, the documentary on Long Now co-founder Stewart Brand, followed by discussion.

"We are as gods and might as well get good at it." Stewart Brand opened the Whole Earth Catalog with that line in 1968, and he has spent the decades since trying to live up to it. We Are As Gods (2021, 94 min), directed by David Alvarado and Jason Sussberg, is a portrait of this restless freethinker. It looks back on Brand's many pursuits and follows his current campaign to reverse species extinction.

Brand is also one of the founders of the Long Now Foundation, the inspiration for Long Now Boston, and the film's score is by Brian Eno, another Long Now founder. It's a great chance to see where many of the ideas behind long-term thinking came from. It also raises the questions Brand keeps asking: what do we owe the future, and how far should we go in reshaping the living world?

Long Now Boston's Gary Oberbrunner will introduce the film and lead an informal discussion afterward, with time to meet fellow Long Now thinkers. The film premiered at South by Southwest and has drawn largely positive reviews.

Starts at 3:00 PM in the Foundry's STEAM Set.