Libraries...
 

I absolutely love libraries. I am not sure if I am more comfortable in a factory, a work bench or a library...I swear its a tie!

Not sure when the last time any of you went to a library. I mean a serious library with leather bound volumes and mahogany. Stacks and stacks of the works from who knows who and that's where I'm getting at.

All those thousands and thousands of volumes. Who wrote all that? I just finished my 5th book and have 2 more coming out in 12 months and maybe another (Paul! SmileWavy).

I know hundreds and hundreds of people but not many authors. I don't know many folks at all that have written as many books. What is most fascinating is that there are thousands and thousand ...heck millions of books written yet who are all these folks producing? What were they like? Why did they write? Where are they now?

Mind you, the ones that authored the books in these pics are most likely all dead but they all have a story and it blows me away to think that each person that sat down and wrote in long hand, on a pad, on a typewriter, dictated, used a computer...they produced these. What were the feelings and ideas that were going on in their heads? What obstacles and elation did they experience?

When was the last time you were in one of these places?

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What did you think?

If we could choose a super power mine would be the ability to read a book by picking it up.

I'd go to every library on the planet and read every book in each one of them.

And imagine being able to retain everything you ever read and to be able to read it at near light speed? I guess it would be the difference between humans and the Amoeba. Having such ability would render humans Amoeba like in comparison?

How much would that change our perceptions? All that information ready to apply? Synthesizing it into action, reflecting to create wisdom? Is it so far fetched to think that in maybe the near future we could be plugged into a network of data that allows instant access to all written word and its up to us to process? What of mankind then?

Absolutely that is in our distant, distant future.

Futuretimeline.net has some cool reads.

The irony here is that most of all those billions and billions of written words are worthless because most of them are simply not relevant to anything.

Interesting to somebody maybe but probably useless with regard to improving the human condition. Such things as phrenology, astrology and alchemy come to mind. The percentage of exoteric knowledge contained in all those tomes seems to me to be so small that reading it (or somehow otherwise absorbing it) would be a waste of time, literally.

Libraries are awesome, librarians as well. First data science and first use of an indexed file system. Protogeeks! (and some of the wimmens are cute - at least you know they are smart too)

Not in the least.

If you truly want to know how we got to where we are today you need to know the history of everything.

I never discount where I might find a nugget that fills in a hole.

It could be an academic work, it could be a poem, or song that tells a tale from another time.

Yes. I would be a fool to argue against libraries. The reality though is that most of what is in these grand old libraries is not useful.

Well, you can't know that for sure unless, you've read it.;)

That would depend entirely on what one considers to be useful and useless knowledge. All knowledge can be useful, IMO. Just because something isn't useful to you, or is applicable only rarely, does not mean it is useless. Sometimes knowledge of one thing becomes useful only when applied to knowledge of another thing.

Stomachmonkey, your chosen super power isnt one I have ever heard before and never thought of. That is a great answer to that question. I'll trade you my invisibility anytime!

Wrong. The information in those books is a record of what has been thought, tried, and imagined. It is the foundation for where we are now.

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I love the look of a library. To have access to all that knowledge is just cool. As pointed out in the You-tube to fix things thread the biggest problem with the internet is all the crap and downright lies before finding the core of truth and accuracy. The same is true for a library. It is usually easier to tell a good reference from garbage in a book.

Stomach monkey you nailed it about books. I love books and not those electronic reader kindle things . However my literary route re libraries was slightly different. When I was young and at school I used to pretend to read. When I was older I used to go to the library and ogle the girls and attempt to chat them up. To get the real essence of libraries I actually dated a librarian. And now I am an avid reader. Yes libraries are great. I have come full circle. Chasing my tail so to speak. Good thread MD.:):D

I dated a librarian once as well. With no doubt she was the strangest lady I even knew. She was just different.

Well GH I tend to agree with you about the strangeness part. This librarian gal had a pet rabbit in her apartment. The rabbit must have been jealous coz it would try to bite me on a regular basis. The rabbit won out in the end. It was meant to be.:D

Funny, I'm the opposite. I was reading an unwieldy novel a couple of years ago when I saw a Kindle commercial. I had considered an ereader a couple years earlier, but they still didn't have the selection or price I desired. I ordered a PaperWhite with backlighting & haven't picked up a real book since.

It is great, I used to buy used books, but the kindle books are usually cheaper. I can read at night without disturbing my wife. I bought a 3G for my disabled Mom & now she can read anything she wants without any internet or trips to the library.

The last time I went to our downtown library, it was packed with homeless people.

Anyone know where it is? There is a lot of crap on the internet but generally if I am googling something factual or historical, I can find a wiki article in seconds!

Now to your point, if I am googling a how to on how to fix my coffee maker, that can be tricky...

The public library; where Socialism goes for acceptance. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/pyth.gif

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