Orders Of Magnitude And Some Libraries

Our goal, with this essay, is speculation.

Or, more specifically, to speculate on vast, vast libraries with many, many books.

Just to get an idea of what that is like and, really, what it means.

So, with all of this in mind, let’s dive right into things!

Vision 01: A Library With 4.5 Million Books

Right now, my life is here, in Cambodia.

But, elsewhere, my life is in Portland, Oregon.

And, when my life is in Portland, Oregon, my library is the Multnomah County Library.

Supposedly, the sum total of their collection is 4.5 million.

Just under half of that is books.

But, let’s assume that their entire collection is made of books.

4.5 million, to be precise.

Let’s assume that it takes four-hours to read a single book.

Don’t get me wrong, this is almost certainly wrong; many books take far less time, while others take far more.

But, let’s just assume that.

If you read for twenty-fours a day, you could read six books a day.

And, with this idea in mind, how long would it take you to read every book in this library?

2,054 years.

That’s what the math leads to.

Just to put this in perspective, it was 30 BC, 2054 years ago.

Vision 02: A Library With 450 Million Books

Our second vision is, as the title suggests, a library with 450 million books.

If you read every book within this library, in the manner outlined in the previous section, it would take you nearly 205,480 years to read every book within this library.

That’s a long, long time.

And, if you were to go back in time, you might find that we, as the beings we exist as in this moment, did not exist 205,480 years ago.

Vision 03: A Library With 450 Trillion Books

Our third vision of a library is a library with 450 trillion books.

If you read every book within this library, in the manner outlined in the two previous sections, it would take you 15 trillion years to read every book within this library.

Our universe has been around for 13.5 billion years. And, this means, it would take you a lot longer than our universe has even been alive, to read all 450 trillion books in a vast, vast library.

Vision 04: A Transcendent Infinity

Our fourth, and final, vision of a library with an infinite number of books.

But, that’s not entirely true.

Right within this library, there are an infinite number of sets, lists, collections; ad infinitum.

Each one with an infinite number of books.

And, even more than that, there are infinite systems of generation, creation, production; ad infinitum.

A neverending wealth of books are present. And, in turn, a neverending wealth of books are created.

Ad infinitum.

If you were to go through an infinite number of books or sets or collections — ad infinitum — every single infinitely small moment, for an endless wealth of eternities, you would never reach the end.

Or, for that matter, any limits, boundaries, endings; ad infinitum.

The reason for this is simple: infinity has no ending.

Just imagine, then, an infinite library, with an infinite number of books.

It is all quite lovely.

Conclusion

Just to wrap this up, thank you so much for reading!

My hope is that you enjoyed this essay.

Even if you didn’t, though, thank you for reading.

Best wishes and have a lovely, lovely, day!