Hmmm ... Turns out Books ARE important

I suspect we’re not too far from that day if those who believe themselves in charge have anything to do with it.

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… or redacted … (these characters are included so this will post)

… I’ve been collecting books for over 30 years. I can attest to your observation about the lessening of the quantity of quality books out there. Over the years the problem has gone from there being way to many titles to barely being able to find 20 - 30 quality volumes at any book sale no matter how large the number or variety of titles at the sale. I’ve had quite a bit of contact with book buyers over the years and this was and continues to be a constant topic of discussion.

As you said above you can find those “really interesting titles” but more often than not they are scarce and if available are very expensive. About 10 years in I had a conversation about my “Gentle Madness” (this phrase courtesy of Nicholas Basbanes) with a rare book dealer that really stuck with me. He told me that he had always bought not only books that he was interested in reading and keeping but also educated himself about and bought quality books that he knew would be sought after in other areas. Very good advice.

I would like to think that the “titles” of which you speak are being bought and preserved for the time when they are most needed, although I have no doubt that many of these titles are purchased specifically to reduce their circulation and exposure.

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… “Would it kill you to read a #$%&% book?” I say versions of this almost weekly. :slight_smile:

I know but we must try to get people to read.

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If books were not important, Amazon would never have named its ebook platform
“kindle” in an attempt to destroy them. They’re trying to get rid of them, so they’re important.

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I sincerely hope you’re right that there are others out there preserving those titles that really matter. I can’t say, beyond this site, that I know of any…but who knows…hopefully there are more Morris Berman-styled self-monastics out there preserving what matters most to them.

But I do wonder if I will see, in my lifetime, the rediscovery of such knowledge. Or, more accurately, the rediscovery of that sense of discovery, of understanding, of wonder. Rather than the false certainties that seem to define things right now.

I do suspect the AI-apocalypse is going to destroy the minds of a lot of people, perhaps generations of us. You can already feel that loss of mind in so many people around today.

We must all rage to keep the light of discovery burning as bright as we can.

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Reading Burn Out by Joshua Hood.
An interesting description comes at the beginning of Chapter 11:
" In most places the moan of the siren and the frantic blink of the lights were enough to send the safety-conscious citizenry drifting to the emergency lane, but not on the West Coast. No, in California the motorists seemed to take it as a fascist’s display of government power. A direct attack on their personal liberty that they combated by swinging into his lane and hitting the brakes.".

Refreshing to see writers; expressing some Nuutyfornia behaviords on paper,
thorough their characters.