4 ms·

The Norwegian library with unreadable books

56 points by sohkamyung 4y ago

fxtentacle 4y ago
I like reading about projects that plan for the future :)
Someone 4y ago
I wonder how much security they need to protect this from fans who want to read these works and to what efforts they go to ensure no other copies exist (if I somehow gain access to an old laptop of one of these writers, can I recover (part of) the work? If FOIA requests on the email of the library are possible, will they disclose something?)
- aaron695 4y ago
red75prime 4y ago
At least, such ceremonies provide a sense of stability in our world that is due to rapid, uncontrollable (by an average human), and unforeseeable changes.
skerit 4y ago
So it's a time capsule. They should ask GRRM to put The Winds Of Winter in it and watch the world burn.
FartyMcFarter 4y ago
I hope at least some of the books just say "hope it was worth the wait" with the rest of the pages blank :)
- vidarh 4y ago
  There is a, likely apocryphal, story I was told by my Norwegian teacher at school claiming that the Norwegian exam one year was to answer in essay form the question "what is laziness?" and that some future famous author (the name varies, hence probably apocryphal) wrote "This is laziness" and handed in his paper, and got top marks. Our teacher stressed that whether or not the story was true, it was the type of stunt that only works once.
  - manarth 4y ago
    > "Define 'Courage'" > "This." https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/why-ask-why/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/why-ask-why/
  - hakfoo 4y ago
    I tried this in high school. Got fed up applying for scholarships (had basically decided to go to local state college which would provide full ride and allow commuter living). 500-word prompt: "Describe your thumbprint". I hate that self-descriptive nonsense. I don't want to blather about myself, never really have. Give me a prompt with some practical utility-- at least to the "how would you stop the puppy-kicking crisis in America" questions you'd ask Miss America candidates. I masked off half my thumb, dipped the other half in ink and smeared it on the page. Half a picture is 500 words. I spoke with another student at my school who got further with that particular organization, and they were quite a backwards set (basically asking the girl with a 1600 SAT and intent on medical school if she wanted to be a mommy) so I doubt I'd have gotten much further anyway.
JoeAltmaier 4y ago
Trust Norwegians to do something so profoundly silly. I predict the collection estimated to continue to 2113 won't survive this decade. And who will be reading paper books in 100 years? Who will know how to make them from trees? Will those trees survive development? NO, those questions are interesting or thought-provoking. They are obvious. Nobody, nobody, no are the answers. The world is moving on so fast and so hard, reading may not even be a thing then. You want to imagine something, imagine that.
- varjag 4y ago
  Where this kind of hostility to an entirely benign project comes from?
  - n4r9 4y ago
    Unnecessary attacks like this often stem from an underdeveloped ego and lack of self-esteem. Such people can develop an overly critical mindset because it protects their own ego and helps them feel like they are better. Generalisations (e.g. "Trust Norwegians...") are often involved in criticism that stems from insecurity, since it gives the attack a false veneer of objectivity and obviousness.
    - blooalien 4y ago
      And sometimes it stems from a sense of total despair seeing the majority of humanity actively fight for "their right" to continue killing our literal life support system (the very planet upon which we live). Not saying that's what this guy is or is not on about, but from my own personal experience, I know I go off on hostile rants over exactly that. It sometimes feels insulting to read about "the future" when it's clear there may not be a future for much longer unless humanity as a whole pulls it's collective head out of it's collective nether-parts rather soon…
      - varjag 4y ago
        I'm not sure you've read the article?
Gordonjcp 4y ago
"Each tree was still only around 1m (3ft) tall, but one day, when the spruces are more than 20-30 times the size, they will provide the paper for a special collection of books. Everyone there knew they would not live to see that happen, nor would they ever get to read the books." A couple of stands of Sitka Spruce that I planted around 30 years ago are now well over 20 metres tall, so I suspect they'll be on their third or fourth planting by then.
dlkf 4y ago
As is usually the case with concept art, there are a lot of vague nods to what the point of this might be: “exploring deeper time scales from various angles”, “foster longer term thinking”, etc. But you will never get a better explanation than this, because there is no point. The good news is that participation casts significant doubt on your intellect, so by definition we won’t be missing out on any good books.
sohkamyung 4y ago
Peng Shepard wrote an SF story, "The Future Library", based on the real one. But it is a story about an apocalyptic future. It can be read online at tor<dot>com [1] [1] https://www.tor.com/2021/08/18/the-future-library-peng-shepherd/ https://www.tor.com/2021/08/18/the-future-library-peng-sheph...

56 points by sohkamyung 4y ago

I like reading about projects that plan for the future :)

I wonder how much security they need to protect this from fans who want to read these works and to what efforts they go to ensure no other copies exist (if I somehow gain access to an old laptop of one of these writers, can I recover (part of) the work? If FOIA requests on the email of the library are possible, will they disclose something?)

aaron695 4y ago

red75prime 4y ago

At least, such ceremonies provide a sense of stability in our world that is due to rapid, uncontrollable (by an average human), and unforeseeable changes.

skerit 4y ago

So it's a time capsule. They should ask GRRM to put The Winds Of Winter in it and watch the world burn.

FartyMcFarter 4y ago

I hope at least some of the books just say "hope it was worth the wait" with the rest of the pages blank :)

vidarh 4y ago
There is a, likely apocryphal, story I was told by my Norwegian teacher at school claiming that the Norwegian exam one year was to answer in essay form the question "what is laziness?" and that some future famous author (the name varies, hence probably apocryphal) wrote "This is laziness" and handed in his paper, and got top marks. Our teacher stressed that whether or not the story was true, it was the type of stunt that only works once.
- manarth 4y ago
  > "Define 'Courage'" > "This." https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/why-ask-why/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/why-ask-why/
- hakfoo 4y ago
  I tried this in high school. Got fed up applying for scholarships (had basically decided to go to local state college which would provide full ride and allow commuter living). 500-word prompt: "Describe your thumbprint". I hate that self-descriptive nonsense. I don't want to blather about myself, never really have. Give me a prompt with some practical utility-- at least to the "how would you stop the puppy-kicking crisis in America" questions you'd ask Miss America candidates. I masked off half my thumb, dipped the other half in ink and smeared it on the page. Half a picture is 500 words. I spoke with another student at my school who got further with that particular organization, and they were quite a backwards set (basically asking the girl with a 1600 SAT and intent on medical school if she wanted to be a mommy) so I doubt I'd have gotten much further anyway.

JoeAltmaier 4y ago

Trust Norwegians to do something so profoundly silly. I predict the collection estimated to continue to 2113 won't survive this decade. And who will be reading paper books in 100 years? Who will know how to make them from trees? Will those trees survive development? NO, those questions are interesting or thought-provoking. They are obvious. Nobody, nobody, no are the answers. The world is moving on so fast and so hard, reading may not even be a thing then. You want to imagine something, imagine that.

varjag 4y ago
Where this kind of hostility to an entirely benign project comes from?
- n4r9 4y ago
  Unnecessary attacks like this often stem from an underdeveloped ego and lack of self-esteem. Such people can develop an overly critical mindset because it protects their own ego and helps them feel like they are better. Generalisations (e.g. "Trust Norwegians...") are often involved in criticism that stems from insecurity, since it gives the attack a false veneer of objectivity and obviousness.
  - blooalien 4y ago
    And sometimes it stems from a sense of total despair seeing the majority of humanity actively fight for "their right" to continue killing our literal life support system (the very planet upon which we live). Not saying that's what this guy is or is not on about, but from my own personal experience, I know I go off on hostile rants over exactly that. It sometimes feels insulting to read about "the future" when it's clear there may not be a future for much longer unless humanity as a whole pulls it's collective head out of it's collective nether-parts rather soon…
    - varjag 4y ago
      I'm not sure you've read the article?

Gordonjcp 4y ago

"Each tree was still only around 1m (3ft) tall, but one day, when the spruces are more than 20-30 times the size, they will provide the paper for a special collection of books. Everyone there knew they would not live to see that happen, nor would they ever get to read the books." A couple of stands of Sitka Spruce that I planted around 30 years ago are now well over 20 metres tall, so I suspect they'll be on their third or fourth planting by then.

dlkf 4y ago

As is usually the case with concept art, there are a lot of vague nods to what the point of this might be: “exploring deeper time scales from various angles”, “foster longer term thinking”, etc. But you will never get a better explanation than this, because there is no point. The good news is that participation casts significant doubt on your intellect, so by definition we won’t be missing out on any good books.

sohkamyung 4y ago

Peng Shepard wrote an SF story, "The Future Library", based on the real one. But it is a story about an apocalyptic future. It can be read online at tor<dot>com [1] [1] https://www.tor.com/2021/08/18/the-future-library-peng-shepherd/ https://www.tor.com/2021/08/18/the-future-library-peng-sheph...