Spend enough time in long-termist circles, and somebody will tell you a story about trees.

What is it about trees and long-term thinking? There are plenty of inert objects that last beyond our lifetimes and leave a legacy for the future – a building, for instance. But perhaps the tree sparks the imagination because it is alive. There’s something reassuring about the idea of another organism living as long – if not longer – than us. They provide a helpful visual representation of time passing, via their branches or rings. And they are accessible, familiar, local.

That said, many of the tree stories are about long-term planning, and don’t necessarily capture all facets of long-term thinking. In some (but not all) of these tales, the tree is framed as a future resource to be exploited.

So, I wonder: might there be any alternative living creatures on Earth that could lay claim to be the unofficial symbol/mascot of the long-term thinker?

Read More at The Long-Termist’s Field Guide

Read the rest at The Long-Termist’s Field Guide