Borges: Library of Babel/summary and analysis
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- Опубликовано: 27 июл 2024
- The short story “The Library of Babel” by Jorge Luis Borges was first published in 1941 in its original Spanish, and later in English in 1962. Though the idea of a total library had been written about previously, Borges gives us one of the most memorable accounts of such a concept. The library being representative of the universe, this video discusses the epistemological implications, and questions the limitations of what it is we can know.
How are the hexagons organized:
libraryofbabel.info/theory.html
The Total Library. Short essay by Borges:
www.gwern.net/docs/borges/193...
Other videos on The Library of Babel:
@TheCodeXCantina
• The Library of Babel b...
@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse
• Library of Babel by Jo...
Other channels mentioned:
O.G. Rose:
/ @o.g.rose.michelle.and...
Books Mentioned:
The Conflict of Mind:
www.amazon.com/Conflict-Mind-...
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Where else to find me:
Instagram: / paeveo
Twitter: / pae_veo
This is one of the greatest stories from one of the greatest writers!!
Kind of you to mention our video on it 🙏
I’m certain I should rate this story out of six. I Gettier most of your jokes.
You and Noah were the two that got me into Borges! So thank you! And you win! And did it with a pun!😅
You’re so awesome Pae, and your videos are a delightful mixture of insight and wit that is beyond rare. The way you said “universe” toward the start made me burst out laughing, as I laughed again with “Well, that answers that.” The line “Outside filling a spot” was also golden-I just love you. I’m going to be quoting your line that “We have to know a lot to know anything”-that perfectly captures “a major epistemological problem” (thanks also for the kind shoutout to The Conflict of Mind-that means a lot). “Temporarily Justified Knowledge” is also a great phrase. I’ll certainly be sharing this: I love Borges and you did him justice! Applause all around! (And can I trade you ten coins for a sheep in a field that's actually a robot dressed like a sheep, which is actually a person dressed like a robot dressed like a sheep...You can just have the coins...)
II could have opened "The Conflict of Mind" up randomly to any page, and probably could have pulled a quote that would have fit perfectly with what I talk about here. I was also going to use the quote on page 138, first sentence of the last paragraph--that too would have fit so perfectly. And I would be happy to make that trade, but I have to admit, it is a social humanoid artificial intelligence robot that has been developed by Hanson Robotics--and it does dream of electric sheep! 😅
@@attention5638 You are super kind, and I’m so glad you feel the book fits with Borges, whom I adore. And that sentence (…“what is necessary cannot go as far as is necessary”…) is perfectly associated with that line out of “On Certainty”-I appreciate that connection! And gosh dern it, I thought it was programmed to dream about getting a promotion after tucking the coins in its coat! Why can’t I use Python right?!
When you mentioned a library universe my fantasy author brain started going in a VERY different direction from where this video went hahaha and part of it still may be running off in that direction (it's hard to stop sometimes).
I do absolutely love the blending of the fantastical, philosophical and mathematical here. I've gone and printed these writings out to break my brain a little with this evening since I have some rare time off. Seems like the right way to spend it :P thank you!
A library universe is all great until one realizes they can never read a book that makes any sense haha then it is just hell. 😅 And yes! If you are still reading Kafka, Borges is perfect to go along with his work. Although, I am not sure which one will lead to a more existential crisis. haha 😅
Beautiful, with lots of subtle flourishes like the quick Gettier reference for JTB! On a lighter note: I loved how, precisely when you referred to Borges's meticulous method, you showed a photo of him relaxing on an armchair in an irresponsible posture next to a cat who is equally relaxed and irresponsible.
Yes! I figured you would understand that reference! I didn't realize that relation with the picture and what I was saying--that is great! It worked out well. Thank you for checking this out!
I had heard of this one, but it never caught my interest ……… until now!!!!!! 😎 Great summary and exploration !
Thank you so much! It is a really fun story, I think you would like it.😊
Great analysis of the story, Pae.
Happy to see you back.
Hey Jason! Great to see you here and hope all is well with you! Thank you so much for checking this out! 😊😎
My brain is fried, also I am going to watch your videos every time I feel sad because they're the best :D
Haha Thank you so much! My computer kind of gave out recently, so my next video will be stop motion with a camera. Not as confusing as Borges 😅
Great to see you back Pae. I’ve never read this book but the library described sounds fascinating. 😊💙
It really is! Borges has some pretty amazing stories! =)
Fabulous, as always. Glad you are back among us. The futile search for meaning... yes...
Thank you so much! It does seem to be a futile search most of the time, that is for sure. 😬
@@attention5638 Yeah, I mostly feel like I know MY meaning for being here, but then something will trigger my depression and I fall and think there IS no meaning or purpose, why bother? LOl. That's my own plight.
Hi, I enjoyed your exploration of this short story - I find this story invites speculation about knowledge, meaning and our perception of them even without philosophical background, so it was nice to gain more insight into concrete ideas and theories the author had in mind. Thank you🙂
Marginally related, I think you might enjoy Piranesi by Susanna Clarke and Truth by Terry Pratchett - they differ in approach (much 'lighter') but deal with similar topics and themes.
Thank you so much for checking this out!😊 And yes! Both Clarke and Pratchett have been on my reading list for this year, but had no idea where to start. I will look these works up, for sure! Thank you!😎😊
I like the A! mug. This discussion reminded me how I'd love to travel back in time to read some of the lost ancient texts, but I wouldn't be able to actually read them because of the language barrier. I suppose I could pay someone to translate it for me, if I could steal something and bring it back to the current time, but then the text wouldn't have been available (to be used or destroyed) in the original timeline and, with MCU time travel logic, I'd end up going forward into an alternate timeline reality in which the Butterfly Effect might have caused all kinds of shenanigans... besides, why should I trust some random translator? What if, by sheer cosmic coincidence, the translator I pick is part of a secret society hellbent on keeping the ancient secrets from being revealed to the rest of the world? Now I'm just "Babel"-ing...
Hey! I just got back from watching your tag videos!😅 I think about that a lot--all those lost ancient Greek texts and what not. We are missing out, for sure.
Amazing. “The concept of mind” sounds very interesting. And definitely a book that was written with you in mind as the perfect reader! 😅👋🏼
It is definitely a book I will be recommending to anyone interested on these kind of subjects! 😊
I think I'm just going to hang a picture of Pae in my office, like Plato advises us to keep our mind focused on the forms. Likely the best thing I can do for 2022.
@@O.G.Rose.Michelle.and.Daniel Haha yes! Great idea. I’ll see if I can get a small bust of Pae sculpted, how inspirational would that be??!
@@tomlabooks3263 I grew up on Transformers and Beast Wars, so the idea of a small Pae figure near me at all times is a return not only to childhood, but childhood perfected. The angels with the flaming swords have officially stepped aside...
Wow, what a fascinating story. I have never heard of Borges but I will definitely be picking up the Library of Babel up soon! Even if it may take me a long time to understand, lol.
I have only started reading him last year, and he is quickly becoming one of my favorite short story writers. He will get you to think for hours afterward, that is for sure! 😅
i need to read this story apparently! as always an awesome video!
It is a great one,and a great place to start with Borges!😎
An infinite library would be heaven! 🙂 This makes me want to revisit Borges. I read somewhere Borges was influenced by Schopenhauer, referring to him as one who "perhaps deciphered the universe," which I guess is either interesting or depressing, depending on one's POV. 😀
Hey Mike! Great to see you again! Hope all has been well--and yes, I do vaguely remember reading something about Schopenhauer being an influence. Which makes sense, as Schopenhauer directly or indirectly influenced everyone after him haha 😅 Glad you stopped by, and it is always a good time to revisit Borges! 😎😊
Excellent review of the Library of Babel. I sort of say I DNFd it years ago, because though I read the full story, one of the translations of course, I mostly checked out for the 2nd half...more my fault than anything. Hearing your synopsis and analysis, I am going to go back to it and pay attention this time. Great video PV
It is a bit intimidating at first, but I think you would really appreciate it, as what you typically read involves a lot of thought and sci fi does typically get the reader into these philosophical thought experiments. For sure some elements and connections can be made. 😊😊
Wow, this was so interesting! I loved how you applied the certainty quote and consensus bias to your analysis of this book. When you were describing consensus bias, I immediately had the image of everyone speeding in traffic because there seems to be an unsaid consensus that speed limit signs are suggestions 😆. The circular-order-loop-point boggles my mind. This book sounds too smart for me, and I loved hearing your thoughts on it! 😁
The speeding in traffic definitely applies here and something I think we all can relate to haha😅 And yes! That ending really put the story on another level--it is a good one for sure! 😊😊
So freaking good! I cannot wait for the next video. This is one of my all time favorite short stories. Its funny, because next weeks book review on my channel is on A Short Stay In Hell which is this story come to life as one mans personal hell. Your insight here was fantastic!
I have heard you talk about A Short Stay In Hell, and I really want to get to that one soon! I will look forward to your review of it. It does sound like something I would like just as much!
This reminds me of one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes😁
Though I have never seen Dr. Who, I can still see that being the case. 😅
Very nice 👍
Thank you so much! 😊😊
if the whole world were a library what an amzing thing that would be, we would all be smart,,,, that is how i assume.
I would definitely not be against such a thing! 😊😎
@@attention5638 you are great bro, love you, lots of love from Kenya...
You rock man
So... it all comes back down to human beings being insecure. We want to be able to think we can know it all and control it all in order to create a false purpose for our existence. Leastways, that's how I see it. I really don't do well with thought experiments, I already spend too much time thinking about non-complex things. Therefore, thank you, friend, for taking up the task!
Maybe we already know it all, and we are just unsatisfied with the answers, so we try to create more--and of it, comes art!😎
@@attention5638 very possible :)
Gotta get you down here to California to tour the haunted Winchester House. Not as big as an infinite library but its HUGE and haunted and real.😀
Well, if I am ever in California again, I will be sure to do that! Never turned down a tour of a haunted house before--especially the real ones! haha😅
Lots to think about, but I haven't read this book. I'll have to read it and come back and watch your video again. The books are in order and then repeat, again in order, but who's order? Borges' order? Is this an author whose mind I want to be in? Great review. It sounds as though the book is thought provoking.
I miss all the little animated ducks in your first videos and the claymation😀
What I don’t understand the most about this story is how in god’s name did Borges think of it. Absolutely mind blowing!
I agree! Though the idea of an infinite library was nothing new, he really took it to the next level. 😅
I just love reading books that fall into a labyrinth of confusion. LoL 🤣
Sorry off topic, but...
I'm digging Your lamp.
Also T Rex. Shows how My mind is working...buzzing about.
This actually sounds interesting.
Certainly there is No Certainty.
Great Video 👍😁👍
Hey James! Great to see you here! I think you would really dig this one--and write a killer piece that would go well with it!😎
@@attention5638 It really does sound interesting. Great 2 See You back at it again. 👍😁👍
I'm a spendidly inaccurate picturer of author's architecture descriptions (I'd pictured Prospero's Red Death chambers as less a compartmentalized grid than a pie chart with broken zigzags dividing it). So I'm glad more imaginative artists took a crack at drawing the library and pre-emptively corrected my assumptions. I'd've totally prictured a chemical symbol and reckoned it was an inside joke for biology majors.
The layout in this one is definitely a confusing one, which I do not think anyone is completely sure how it goes, but I am very curious on this inside biology joke! haha😅
I honestly can't decide if I find it more baffling that someone could come up with this or that you can actually understand it. Don't get me wrong the 5% of this that I can comprehend sounds interesting but I just don't think my brain is wired to wrap itself around a concept like this. Sometimes I wonder how different our two realities are due to the way we think about the world. It's probably a much simpler place to me haha.
Hey Mason! Good to hear from you! I actually think you would really like this one--trying to analyze it is one thing, but as a story one its own, it is not as complicated as it sounds! That can be said with a lot of Borges' work. He write complex ideas, but the writing is actually quite simple to grasp. 😊😎
It's Like Kabalah
Library of Babel is nothing more or less than a encryption algorithm with indexing perceived in revers.
I just read the story and oh there is so much to say here, but I won’t blow up the comments to much 😂 However, every study session may start lasting until sunrise at this rate. Just like the staircase, it never ends hahaha 😵💫🤣 and oh jeez! Justified truth, I remember talking about this! Hahaha the coins 😂
Okay, so I’ll speak to one point that I thought about. The duplication in the mirror, maybe it is representative of what he’s trying to say about the hexagons being the same. The hexagons all look identical, but open each book and they are not. We look identical in the mirror, but we are not what is in the mirror. So even though it looks like there could be a definite understanding of the library found, there cannot be because of it’s infinity that lies beyond what is seen at first glance, or maybe in the moment. My thinking is, if the library is infinite, that can be the only truth, the characters and words and symbols translated are only discoveries. Then the process of these discoveries is knowing the truth, knowing being an action and truth being infinity. (This is getting too long and if I don’t stop here I won’t haha. I am relating it to chapter 2 for another example to study. 😂)
Also, “It is incomprehensible.” Immediately made me think of historicity and there is also so much to say there. I think even if we could translate the texts, could we really be historically accurate unless we were there in the moment to see the letters and symbols being written? 🙃 Okay I’m done here, but not really hahaha
Ahh! I think you and I talk so much philosophy throughout the week, I thought I had replied to this a while ago haha. But yes! These are such great points--in fact, you should make a video on it yourself! "We are not what is in the mirror," this is really interesting for a few reasons, because it presupposes a truth that is in itself reflective. Though I do agree, I would love to hear more on that. I vote, do a video on this story! haha😎 And yes!! Now I want to do a third video on historicity and the library. Time to bring out Foucault! haha😅
@@attention5638 I want to do a video on historicity too! Not only is the subject interesting to think about, it also brings a certain kind of dread. Haha 😂 so does the concept of the mirror! Alright! I’ll have to type something up and send it to you to look at beforehand! 😊
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babel-icious
😂🤣 I did miss your comments😅
I guess you’d have to draw the line somewhere or the parameters would be too great, but only only 25? No special characters? The psychic damage done by WingDings would annihilate Borges lol 😋
I am going to be honest here--I have no clue what it is you are asking about any of this,😅
maybe stop hitting the desk as you do your video. thump thump thump