Serendip is an independent site partnering with faculty at multiple colleges and universities around the world. Happy exploring!
Reply to comment
![Lynn's picture Lynn's picture](https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/files/pictures/picture-826.png)
More Babel
I don't know if our class is obsessed with the Library of Babel, or if I, personally, am obsessed with it, but once again I have Babel on the mind. A book I read a few days ago was in the habit of throwing the word "destiny" around as though it meant something, and I'm wondering if destiny and Babel aren't inter-related. Would a finite number of possibilities in this universe imply destiny, or would it negate the idea? If a person can only choose from so many options, perhaps the option that she chooses in therefore "destiny" - or, if there are an infinite number of options, perhaps the option that she invents is possible only because it is her "destiny". Of course, destiny presumes a lack of randomness (by its very definition) and so isn't directly applicable to the Library of Babel as we understand it, but... I'm a little obsessed. I want to consider everything through the lens of Babel. I read a goofy fantasy novel, and now I want to know whether the author is pro-Babel or against it.