Obligatory mention that by the time the library burned its popularity was already in decline, and most of the works had been copied or moved to other libraries, so not much was realy lost.
Most of the works were copies to begin with - the loss of the Library of Alexandria is a loss of a possible source of transmission for literally hundreds of thousands of ancient texts. Considering how many priceless pieces of literature have survived by only a single copy, mourning the (multiple) burnings of the Great Library is far from mourning a nonissue.
Difference now is that it’s easier than ever to save a copy of the books in danger. If you’re upset about books being deleted, grab a USB and get to work downloading those books.
All that knowledge forever lost
Obligatory mention that by the time the library burned its popularity was already in decline, and most of the works had been copied or moved to other libraries, so not much was realy lost.
So, out of curiosity - what number do you see in the yellow circle?
Can still be upset about the loss of the building can’t I?
Most of the works were copies to begin with - the loss of the Library of Alexandria is a loss of a possible source of transmission for literally hundreds of thousands of ancient texts. Considering how many priceless pieces of literature have survived by only a single copy, mourning the (multiple) burnings of the Great Library is far from mourning a nonissue.
It’s not something I obsess about, but when it’s mentioned, then yeah, I think I am still upset.
And it’s happening again, right now, as we speak.
Knowledge is being set ablaze by the powers-that-be and nobody is stepping up to meaningfully prevent it from all being destroyed.
Difference now is that it’s easier than ever to save a copy of the books in danger. If you’re upset about books being deleted, grab a USB and get to work downloading those books.
Better yet, mirror the Internet Archive, Anna’s Archive, and sci-hub.
That takes a rediculous amount of storage, though.
Wonder if there’s some kind of P2P backup a la IPFS
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