Borges' 'Library of Babel' and the Internet

by Christopher Rollason
The author and speaker of Library of Babel and the Internet is Christopher Rollason. The
audience is those who have read and considered Jorges Borges' The Library of Babel. This article
is Christopher Rollason's critique. He believes that Jorges Borges is actually comparing the
hexagonal library to the internet. The speakers argument becomes believable when he adds
evidence to support this metaphor. For example, he states that the speaker of The Library of
Babel has been among the stacks and stacks of books and believes that he could be comparing it
to the virtual world. The internet is filled with data and the unknown, which is why it could be
referred to as a mystery. The internet is also fact and opinion based. The library is cyberspace
and is made by its users. Just like a library, the internet contains endless information. The only
difference between the two is the internet losing the line between what is true and what is false.
Generally anything is as smart as its creator. Now that users have the access to the internet they
could add to information not knowing that they are false. Other users would see that and
automatically assume that they walked away with facts. Over the course of time society has lost
track of the rumors and factual information. If it was not for the people that put up false
information, the library could have been easily compared to the cyber world. This fact makes the
audience feel like we may drown in the "book stacks" because we begin to believe almost
anything. An editor, Ignacio Ramonet, was being interviewed. He was to discuss his take on
communications revolution and other topics involving the internet. Ramonet was releasing a
book The Tyranny of Communication. The book he wrote is seen as simplifying a message to
explore the actual material. The purpose of the message is to understand the original author,
Jorges Borges. He may or may have not been expressing the nature in the internet and the
library, but it is important to consider the possibilities of his message. The library that the author
discusses stands as the unknown. Only the author could justify what was actually being talked
about. The type of evidence used in this article are facts. The author use of facts advances the
argument. This argument is also backed up by experts testimony. The author really captures the
audience's attention when he makes the point about rumors and facts. The author sells the
message by presenting the idea. He took the article a step further and looked at it the way not
most people would. His analysis was supported with evidence and that shows that he is
thoughtful and open-minded to the things he reads. The author balenced his opinion, the
metaphor, and turned into fact by collecting the key concepts of the internet and the library. The
metaphor is arguable, but Rollason sold the message to the readers.