Journal from Utopia Day Two: The World is a Library

Perception of reality is subject to change. In that same sense, reality is subject to change. What the human mind cannot comprehend, it must rationalize. Additionally, what the human mind cannot comprehend or rationalize, it must create. Throughout history, humanity has striven to understand and explain the divine. How was the Earth born? Some will tell you that the Earth was created because of the Big Bang Theory. Others will answer, just as ferociously, that the world was created because of God the Father. Others will argue that the world was created through paticca samupadda. The list goes on and on, and explanations are endless. 

Additionally, throughout history, curious, vibrant individuals have published content through various media, such as books, podcasts, movies, and social media posts, to gift the public with the valuable treasure of an attempt to explain creation, existence, humanity, and the universe. One individual in particular who curated a beautiful, intricate piece of art that conveyed to readers a deeper meaning of the world was a man named Jorge Luis Borges. Jorge Luis Borges wrote and published "The Library of Babel" in 1941. "The Library of Babel" is a detailed, marvelously sculpted piece of literature that, through personal interpretation and interest, demonstrates to readers that the universe is unexplainable, and thus individual human life has no bearing on eternity.

"The Library is so enormous that any reduction of human origin is infinitesimal" (Borges, 1941). This quote stands out upon first glance, as readers are taken aback by the conveyed sense of despair and meaninglessness. "How can Borges say that human life has no meaning?" some may ask, overwhelmed with the thought that humanity is microscopic in the scheme of the universe. Although this quote is written in a deliberate, straightforward tone, Borges does not strive to instill sadness and depression in readers. Instead, he worked to provide readers with an understanding that the universe can not be explained, and that the "Library" (the Universe) is something so grand that humanity cannot comprehend its numerous systems, and never will. Borges wrote with a tone of despair, but desired just to instill a sense of reality and understanding that the Universe and eternity are both inescapable and unexplainable.

Throughout "The Library of Babel", Borges paints a picture of a magnificently structured, vast library, in which every room is shaped the same, and every novel is organized in the exact same pattern. Borges wrote that "If an eternal traveller were to cross it in any direction, he would see that the same volumes were repeated in the same order" (1941). Through this quote, Borges strove to paint a picture to readers of just how limited the library was, euphemistically implying that the earth in itself was limited and that eternity was completely inescapable and encompassing of human existence- thus implying that human existence is the same as it ever will be and that as time goes on, humanity will falter into the same patterns, despite evolution, as existence and understanding has always and always will be limited and controlled by eternity and the Universe. In summary, both eternity and its patterns cannot be escaped by humanity's microscopic efforts.

In other words, Borges strove to convey to readers the fact that eternity and the earth's creation cannot be explained or understood by humanity. Borges strove for readers to understand, as seen above in the quote "The Library is so enormous that any reduction of human origin is infinitesimal" (Borges, 1941), that any amount of human action does not curate an actual change in the Universe, no matter the magnitude of this mentioned "action". In conclusion, Borges did not strive to instill in readers a sense of depression or despair, but instead desired for readers to understand the simplicity of humanity in comparison to the vastness and ultimate magnitude of the Universe, in all of its repetition and encompassation of existence, as well as the fact that human existence cannot alter, understand, or escape eternity.

(The above is an image found online depicting the relentlessness of eternity's vast control and continuation, symbolizing the message that Borges strove to convey to readers).

(N.d.-a). Retrieved from https://sites.evergreen.edu/politicalshakespeares/wp-content/uploads/sites/226/2015/12/Borges-The-Library-of-Babel.pdf