prior probability

Act I, scene iii of “David Hume in the Library of Babel”

My previous two posts have revisited the first two paragraphs of Jorge Luis Borges’ The Library of Babel. Today, I will go over the third paragraph of the story, where the narrator, who in my retelling could be David Hume, describes the logic of the Universal Library:

Act I, scene ii of “David Hume in the Library of Babel”

My previous post went over the first paragraph of Jorge Luis Borges’ The Library of Babel, which describes the setting of the story: an “infinite” library consisting of an indefinite number of interlocking hexagons. The second paragraph of the story introduces our narrator:

Act I, scene i of “Hume in the Library of Babel”

In my previous post, I posed a crazy thought-experiment: What if David Hume were to find himself in Jorge Luis Borges’ imaginary “Library of Babel”? But what does this imaginary world look like? Here is the first paragraph of Borges’ short story The Library of Babel:

I have been busy working on a new whimsical literary project this week and will be sharing the fruits of my intellectual labors here starting today. My prologue is below the fold:

According to Linda Bordoni (via Vatican News), Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, visited some 68 countries during his 12-year pontificate. Here is a link to his official testament, and here are his Reflections on Old Age.

To commemorate this joyous rite, check out the oil painting Les Disciples by Swiss artist Eugène Burnand:

Is this not one of the greatest Easter paintings of all time? Via Mike Frost:

What a cool homage and great remake of a Billy Joel classic!

Today (17 April) is the 64th anniversary of the “Bay of Pigs” invasion for the liberation of Cuba. Building on previous accounts of this covert and controversial operation (see here, here, or here, for example), last year I wrote a heartfelt homage to the brave and idealistic men of this doomed military expedition: Who Betrayed the Cuban Brigade?