The Library of Babel is a short story by Jorge Luis Borges. The story is about an infinite library that contains every possible book composed of a limited set of 25 characters. The library is an endless series of hexagonal galleries. Each wall of the hexagons is lined with bookshelves. Each book contains a random arrangement of 25 characters over 410 pages. Even though there are infinite books, most are gibberish without the hex code which could be symbolism that even though you have access to all knowledge, good luck sorting through the chaos to find any meaning.

It could also serve as a metaphor for the internet what with all the overwhelming amount of information (and nonsense) available today. Old knowledge, new knowledge and the digital age makes this story an eternal classic.

This sounds a hell of a lot like my website.

So now I am wondering if I could, or SHOULD attempt some sort of “Library of Babel” for my website. I’ve already outlined only a few (20) of the 40+ improvements I’ve made here in the last week. I’ve sketched the layout and rendered a concept of how to use bi-directional cross linking and my brain hurts. So again, SHOULD I? Too late, I’ve already started to build it.

Imagine a Babel entrance next to my Archives.Visitors enter a hexagonal gallery containing six posts. Each doorway leads to another chamber, connected by a tag or category: a recurring word, a subject, a year, or an unexpected connection between two pieces I wrote a decade apart.

Someone enters through a photography post from 2009 and eventually reaches Explore More, following the thread of attention through my writing. The Archives becomes a place to wander.

A few things would make it work:

  • Stable chamber addresses: Visitors can bookmark a room and return to it.
  • A thread home: A discreet trail records their route, with a direct exit to the normal archive.
  • A Random Post:  One doorway offers an unpredictable destination.
  • The Denbow Decimal System as the order. The labyrinth has a filing system, even when visitors cannot immediately see it.

Visually the above image as the entrance, then carry its geometry into a clean reading interface with Inter typography. A full 3D library would be a considerable undertaking and could make reading janky as hell. The rooms should create curiosity and the posts should stay easy to read.

And 2,255 posts (so far) from the past twenty six years? At six per chamber, that’s 375.833 rooms before adding alternate connections.

The Denbow Library of Babel: finite fuckery with innumerable paths.