When the mat cushion and me
Were less worn
I might think the man who sat
Breathing sweet sandalwood
Would arise different better.
Now the man sitting legs folded
Is the man who stands legs straight
The man who sleeps
Is the man who wakes
No more or less.
© 2023 by Bob Schwartz
The certitude that everything has been written negates us or turns us into phantoms.
Jorge Luis Borges, The Library of Babel
The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges is an illuminating insight into AI. That may not be (probably isn’t) immediately obvious. The story is by no means didactic or directly germane to the topic, as are the proliferating texts about the specific applications, opportunities and implications of AI. Consider it obliquely but brightly enlightening about the meaning of AI. That may be a reach, but worth reaching for.
Below is a brief excerpt from the story. Any excerpt does disservice to the genius of Borges, maybe here more than most. This is meant to offer a taste; please read the whole in one of his collections, such as Labyrinths.
The universe (which others call the Library) is composed of an indefinite and perhaps infinite number of hexagonal galleries, with vast air shafts between, surrounded by very low railings. From any of the hexagons one can see, interminably, the upper and lower floors. The distribution of the galleries is invariable. Twenty shelves, five long shelves per side, cover all the sides except two; their height, which is the distance from floor to ceiling, scarcely exceeds that of a normal bookcase….
There are five shelves for each of the hexagon’s walls; each shelf contains thirty-five books of uniform format; each book is of four hundred and ten pages; each page, of forty lines, each line, of some eighty letters which are black in color. There are also letters on the spine of each book; these letters do not indicate or prefigure what the pages will say….
This much is already known: for every sensible line of straightforward statement, there are leagues of senseless cacophonies, verbal jumbles and incoherences. (I know of an uncouth region whose librarians repudiate the vain and superstitious custom of finding a meaning in books and equate it with that of finding a meaning in dreams or in the chaotic lines of one’s palm. . . They admit that the inventors of this writing imitated the twenty-five natural symbols, but maintain that this application is accidental and that the books signify nothing in themselves….
Five hundred years ago, the chief of an upper hexagon came upon a book as confusing as the others, but which had nearly two pages of homogeneous lines. He showed his find to a wandering decoder who told him the lines were written in Portuguese; others said they were Yiddish. Within a century, the language was established: a Samoyedic Lithuanian dialect of Guarani, with classical Arabian inflections. The content was also deciphered: some notions of combinative analysis, illustrated with examples of variation with unlimited repetition. These examples made it possible for a librarian of genius to discover the fundamental law of the Library. This thinker observed that all the books, no matter how diverse they might be, are made up of the same elements: the space, the period, the comma, the twenty-two letters of the alphabet. He also alleged a fact which travelers have confirmed: In the vast Library there are no two identical books. From these two incontrovertible premises he deduced that the Library is total and that its shelves register all the possible combinations of the twenty-odd orthographical symbols (a number which, though extremely vast, is not infinite): in other words, all that it is given to express, in all languages. Everything: the minutely detailed history of the future, the archangels’ autobiographies, the faithful catalogue of the Library, thousands and thousands of false catalogues, the demonstration of the fallacy of those catalogues, the demonstration of the fallacy of the true catalogue, the Gnostic gospel of Basilides, the commentary on that gospel, the commentary on the commentary on that gospel, the true story of your death, the translation of every book in all languages, the interpolations of every book in all books.
When it was proclaimed that the Library contained all books, the first impression was one of extravagant happiness. All men felt themselves to be the masters of an intact and secret treasure. There was no personal or world problem whose eloquent solution did not exist in some hexagon. The universe was justified, the universe suddenly usurped the unlimited dimensions of hope. At that time a great deal was said about the Vindications: books of apology and prophecy which vindicated for all time the acts of every man in the universe and retained prodigious arcana for his future. Thousands of the greedy abandoned their sweet native hexagons and rushed up the stairways, urged on by the vain intention of finding their Vindication. These pilgrims disputed in the narrow corridors, proffered dark curses, strangled each other on the divine stairways, flung the deceptive books into the air shafts, met their death cast down in a similar fashion by the inhabitants of remote regions. Others went mad. . . The Vindications exist (I have seen two which refer to persons of the future, to persons who perhaps are not imaginary) but the searchers did not remember that the possibility of a man’s finding his Vindication, or some treacherous variation thereof, can be computed as zero….
The methodical task of writing distracts me from the present state of men. The certitude that everything has been written negates us or turns us into phantoms. I know of districts in which the young men prostrate themselves before books and kiss their pages in a barbarous manner, but they do not know how to decipher a single letter. Epidemics, heretical conflicts, peregrinations which inevitably degenerate into banditry, have decimated the population. I believe I have mentioned the suicides, more and more frequent with the years. Perhaps my old age and fearfulness deceive me, but I suspect that the human species — the unique species — is about to be extinguished, but the Library will endure: illuminated, solitary, infinite, perfectly motionless, equipped with precious volumes, useless, incorruptible, secret. I have just written the word “infinite.” I have not interpolated this adjective out of rhetorical habit; I say that it is not illogical to think that the world is infinite. Those who judge it to be limited postulate that in remote places the corridors and stairways and hexagons can conceivably come to an end — which is absurd. Those who imagine it to be without limit forget that the possible number of books does have such a limit. I venture to suggest this solution to the ancient problem: The Library is unlimited and cyclical. If an eternal traveler were to cross it in any direction, after centuries he would see that the same volumes were repeated in the same disorder (which, thus repeated, would be an order: the Order). My solitude is gladdened by this elegant hope.
From The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges
God respects me when I work
But he loves me when I sing
Headstone, Mississippi Delta
Above: Mega Cavern in Louisville, Kentucky. Once planned as a fallout shelter for 50,000 people, which would make it the largest civil defense shelter in America. This is a recreation of what it would have been like.
The first and only time atomic or nuclear weapons were deployed was in August 1945, with America dropping the first atomic bombs (nuclear fission) on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Thermonuclear weapons (nuclear fusion, hydrogen bombs) have been tested—once frequently, now not at all—but never used.
Nuclear weapons are very much still with us. Nine countries have them: United States, Russia, France, China, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea. The global stockpile is almost 13,000 weapons, less than the 60,000 during the Cold War, but still enough to end life in this world.
The passage of time and other challenges have put this on the cultural back burner. Real threats keep coming (climate, AI, etc.). We talk about the possibility of Russia using strategic nuclear weapons, but what does that really mean to most people today? The atomic bomb was last used almost 80 years ago; the last nuclear tests were about 30 years ago.
Christopher Nolan’s new movie Oppenheimer contemplates the complexities of ultimate weapons and warfare as scientific and moral challenges, for individuals and societies. Renewed interest and attention aren’t likely to have substantial effect on our policies and global relationships. Politics and tribalism cloud our minds and culture, as Oppenheimer’s story highlights.
If you do want to explore beyond Oppenheimer, read The Making of the Atomic Bomb (1986, revised 2012) by Richard Rhodes. The definitive book, awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Long (1499 pages, 2749 footnotes) but perfectly readable and compelling storytelling.
For fun and education, visit online or in Albuquerque the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History:
The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History was established in 1969 as an intriguing place to learn the story of the Atomic Age, from early research of nuclear development through today’s peaceful uses of nuclear technology. Visitors can explore how nuclear science continues to influence our world. The museum strives to present, through permanent and changing exhibits and displays, the diverse applications of nuclear science in the past, present, and future along with the stories of the field’s pioneers.
The upcoming exhibit at the museum, At Play in the Atomic Age is a playfully serious supplement to Oppenheimer:
The toys of the Atomic Age reflect the times and culture of their day. The Atomic Age was born with the Manhattan Project and blasted into the public’s consciousness in 1945. Almost as soon as the public became aware of the existence of the bomb, all things “atomic” became marketable. The promise of a technological future and the threat of nuclear war is reflected in the toys, games, music, and books produced. Their makers sought to provide children with the tools to help them to relate to the world around them and prepare them for a potentially bright but uncertain future.
A few examples of kids “playing” in the Atomic Age:
© 2023 by Bob Schwartz
For CB and the haverim
Each week it is the Jewish tradition to read a portion of the Torah (Five Books of Moses) along with a selection from the prophets. This week the haftarah (prophetic reading) is the beginning of the book of Isaiah (1:1-27).
Isaiah is perhaps the best-loved of the prophetic books. It is cited more than any other prophetic text in rabbinic literature, and more haftarot are taken from Isaiah than from any other prophetic book containing the work of literary prophets. (Haftarot are the prophetic readings chanted in synagogue on the Sabbath, holidays, and fast days.)….Not only rabbinic Judaism but also Christianity and Western culture have emphasized the book of Isaiah. First-time readers of Isaiah are often surprised to find that a well-known expression, a famous quotation, or even a favorite song comes from or is based on Isaiah.
Jewish Study Bible
While Isaiah is a complex book, as are many of the prophetic texts, the message in 1:11-17 is simple and powerful, for believers and nonbelievers, especially for anyone who claims to be listening to God, either directly or through a prophet. God and humanity don’t want empty gestures. Not if those praying hands are dirty, even bloody. “Cease to do evil. Learn to do good, seek justice.”
11 “Why need I all your sacrifices?”
says the LORD.
“I am sated with the burnt offerings of rams
and the suet of fatted beasts,
and the blood of bulls and sheep and he-goats
I do not desire.
12 When you come to see My face,
who asked this of you,
to trample My courts?
13 You shall no longer bring false grain offering,
it is incense of abomination to me.
New moon and sabbath call an assembly—
I cannot bear crime and convocation.
14 Your new moons and your appointed times
I utterly despise.
They have become a burden to me,
I cannot bear them.
15 And when you spread your palms,
I avert My eyes from you.
Though you abundantly pray,
I do not listen.
Your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash, become pure,
Remove your evil acts from My eyes.
Cease doing evil.
17 Learn to do good,
seek justice.
Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible
Some call this short section of the Book of Judges (9:8-15) a fable, a parable or a fairy tale. (Note below that master translator Robert Alter goes all the way, uniquely translating the opening as “Once upon a time”.)
The trees talk to each other about which one should be king. According to the story, at that time in Israel, Abimelech had become judge (leader). Israel had fallen into apostasy, worshiping Baal-berith. But instead of being a deliverer, Abimelech was an oppressor.
What can the trees tell us about totally useless leaders?
Once upon a time the trees went to anoint a king over them. And they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ And the olive tree said, ‘Have I left off my rich oil, for which God and men honor me, that I should go sway over the trees?’ And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Go, you, reign over us.’ And the fig tree said to them, ‘Have I left off my sweetness and my goodly yield that I should go sway over the trees?’ And the trees said to the vine, ‘Go, you, reign over us.’ And the vine said to them, ‘Have I left off my new wine, that gladdens God and men, that I should go sway over the trees?’ And all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Go, you, reign over us.’ And the thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you are really about to anoint me king over you, come shelter in my shade. And if not, a fire shall come out from the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’
Judges 9:8-15, Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible
Jotham stands on Mount Gerizim, one of the two mountains overlooking Shechem (the other is Mount Ebal, which some identify with Mount Zalmon), and excoriates the Shechemite leadership with a fable and a curse. The fable, one of two examples of that genre in the Bible (see also 2 Kings 14:9; 2 Chron. 25:18), is strongly antimonarchical. It illustrates both the folly of kingship (only the worst and least qualified aspire to it) and its dangers (it destroys those who place their reliance on it). The bramble offers scant shade but is a prime cause of fire. A monarchy founded on murder can come to no good and inevitably will destroy those who support it.
Harper’s Bible Commentary
It seems, therefore, that the parable was an independent anti-monarchic work, used here to criticize Abimelech and to inform the reader that when all the trees are interested in having a king, they must beware of the thornbush and look carefully for a suitable tree. The parable is based upon a pattern of three and four, where the fourth element is different and climactic: three refusals by the useful trees—olive, fig, and grapevine—opposed to the agreement of the fourth, the thornbush. This structure emphasizes that the refusal of the useful trees cleared the way for an aggressive figure, and that Abimelech is totally useless.
Jewish Study Bible
“He who is void of virtuous attachments in private life is, or very soon will be, void of all regard for his country. There is seldom an instance of a man guilty of betraying his country, who had not before lost the feeling of moral obligations in his private connections.”
—Samuel Adams, signer of the Declaration of Independence
The way through the world
Is more difficult to find than the way beyond it.
Wallace Stevens, Reply to Papini
As for people who set out to cultivate spiritual practice with aversion to the objects and desires of the senses, even if their minds and thoughts are empty and still and their contemplative visualization is perfectly clear, still when they leave quietude and get into active situations, they are like fish out of water, like monkeys out of the trees.
Man-an, An Elementary Talk on Zen
Even the most engaged of those on a spiritual journey may have thought: What if I could spend time alone, in a hermitage, a place away and apart, where secluded I could better pursue that path? Others have, so why not me?
I read an exquisite brief piece attributed to Zen master Man-an (1591-1654), An Elementary Talk on Zen, found in Minding Mind.
For those who think that the quiet and inactive life is the most conducive to realization, Man-an comments:
Concentration of right mindfulness should be cultivated most especially in the midst of activity. You need not necessarily prefer stillness….
There is a tendency to think that Zen practice will be quicker under conditions of stillness and quiet and that activity is distracting, but the power attained by cultivation in stillness is uncertain when you deal with active situations; it has a cowardly and weakly
function….
If you want to quickly attain mastery of all truths and be independent in all events, there is nothing better than concentration in activity. That is why it is said that students of mysticism working on the Way should sit in the midst of the material world….
As for people who set out to cultivate spiritual practice with aversion to the objects and desires of the senses, even if their minds and thoughts are empty and still and their contemplative visualization is perfectly clear, still when they leave quietude and get into active situations, they are like fish out of water, like monkeys out of the trees.
Bob Schwartz 