Paradox “Library of Babel” Friday | 11.4.16

Do Now! Take out your notes from last class Make sure you have written down your thoughts about the paradox in the clips from Lucy and Interstellar No, “I don’t know,” is not an acceptable answer. Make an educated guess! Consider this question: Is infinite knowledge possible?

Same Goal Today

Paradox defined Noun: A statement or proposition that, despite sound (or apparently sound) reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless, logically unacceptable, or self-contradictory

Paradox

Paradox The beginning of the end I’m nobody Wise fool I can resist anything but temptation Be cruel to be kind

Is Infinite Knowledge Possible? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUad0ZL -nBU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtTkcM9 BfXM

Is Infinite Knowledge Possible? What is a possible result? Is it desirable? Why? Why not? Think: Purpose in life (to do – action…for what, though?)

The Paradox of Infinity Reconciling the finitude and infinity of human knowledge – is it possible?

The Universe A sphere where you can experience every single point within, but never the circumference – you would cease to exist by the fact that you are “outside” of the universe

Borel's dactylographic monkey theorem [A] half-dozen monkeys provided with typewriters would, in a few eternities, produce all the books in the British Museum.

Jorge Luis Borges Aug. 24 1899- June 1986 Argentine poet, essay, and short-story writer B.A. from College de Geneva Began writing poems to celebrate the city of Buenos Aires in his homeland

Jorge Luis Borges First publication: collection of poems - Fervor de Buenos Aires, poemas (1923) First fiction collection: Historia universal de la infamia in 1935 Appointed for a key post in 1938 in the Buenos Aires library. He was dismissed for supporting the Allies during WWII

Jorge Luis Borges - Works Firm grasp on world literature Constant references to the library in his short stories One of the first novels he read? The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Jorge Luis Borges - Works Embrace universal themes - the often recurring circular labyrinth can be seen as a metaphor of life or a riddle in which the central topic is time Borges played with the idea that concrete reality may consist only of mental perceptions. The "real world" is only one possible in the infinite series of realities. 

“The Library of Babel” Timeless irony Describes the homogeneity of space The Cosmological Principle, the conceptual backbone of modern cosmology, states that at large enough scales, the universe is homogeneous and isotropic (having a physical property) so that no point is more important than any other.

Things to Know Before You Read The story has little plot, little characterization, and little conflict Instead, it presents an intellectual puzzle/challenge to the reader Fiction presented as fact, but with purpose

“The Library of Babel” Things to consider as your read: Irony Concepts of light vs. dark and the metaphor associated with it Is it possible to understand the totality of the universe/reality when you are one part of it? Is complete knowledge possible? What is the origin of knowledge and where does it end? How does language play into knowledge and understanding?

The Tower of Babel Genesis 11: 1-9 Explains the origins of different languages Humanity came together after the Great Flood Built a tower tall enough to reach heaven God viewed this behavior as disrespectful – dispersed individuals/confounded their speech

The Cult of “The Library of Babel”

“The Library of Babel” The symmetrically structured library represents the universe as it is conceived by rational man, and the library's illegible books refers to man's ignorance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaDvRdLMkHs