Stairs, Broken Stairways and Corridors / The Library of Babel

I think the thought that we are in search of a meaning, not just of 'nothingness' but of existence, is very interesting. The psychological repercussions of such a 'search' is equally intriguing.  

Borges's The Library of Babel is fascinating in the context of man searching for certainty and meaning. Ultimately pursuing utopian ideals. 

The scenario is that of an infinite library of books each of which includes a unique variation of characters, full stops, commas and spaces. Many of the books are impenetrable and seem incoherent.

However, there is an answer to the apparent riddle which turns the perception of the library on its head. The books and the library are not infinite, in fact they are finite. This is established by recognising that each book despite being unique in it's combination of characters, full stops, commas and spaces is simultaneously limited by virtue of the fact that there can only be a certain number of combinations of these tools of language. There are books that are coherent but because there are so many variations there are many, the majority, which make no apparent sense. 

This revelation that the library is finite suggests that there exists, among the vast incoherent books, a book which decodes the meaning of each other book. In other words information exists in our universe to make better sense of our reality and our lives. 

This kind of goes back to thoughts on the Tower of Babel and the concept of constructing a heaven on earth.    

There is a problem with the library however. Knowing that books exist which will demystify our reality leads to a search for these books and knowledge. Psychologically this searching is a destructive journey. The searching consumes one's life and one's life becomes an unfulfilled search.

Borges visualises the journeying and searching by 'stairs', 'stairways', 'broken stairways' and 'corridors' and 'hallways' which I think is really interesting, particularly in the context of our previous discussions. I suppose at one point every stairway will break or end and most will halt before they reach their end point. We seem to be conditioned as humans to search for meaning, it is perhaps a psychological necessity.

Both the narrator in Borges's essay and Ivan in Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov suggest that it might be enough to live in the knowledge that meaning does exist in the universe despite having no hope of finding or understanding what that meaning is.

'Stairways' and 'corridors' seem to promise something, to suggest a destination or endpoint.