Library of the Great Silence
An archive of transformations
The Library of the Great Silence will invite beings throughout the universe to collaboratively research planetary futures.
Founded on the principle that knowledge about catastrophic risks and strategies of survival are of universal interest – and that all beings throughout the cosmos want to thrive for as long as possible – the Library of the Great Silence1 will invite beings throughout the universe to collaboratively research planetary futures.
At the core of this new research center, managed in partnership with the SETI2 Institute at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory, will be an archive of transformations presented in the most accessible form possible:
Instead of texts, the library will collect objects associated with transformational moments, including natural disturbances (instantiated in materials such as lava and meteorites and fossils of extinct species), and human impact (instantiated in artifacts ranging from handaxes and money to trinitite and plastiglomerate).
The library will also provide an open space to explore relationships between collected items, enabling representation of phenomena ranging from chance to complexity to overreach. An open invitation to contribute information and ideas will be broadcast throughout the cosmos.
In an interview with Elizabeth Merritt, Center for the Future of Museums, Jonathon Keats, Chief Terrestrial Librarian stated3:
The Library of the Great Silence is an epic thought experiment in the form of an institution intended to persist through deep time. It’s open to all beings, regardless of their origin. For that reason, I have opted not to collect books that require literacy in English or another human language to be intelligible. Instead the library comprises a collection of objects that have been implicated in and are representative of transformations here on Earth.
THE LIBRARY OF THE GREAT SILENCE: A Terrestrial Center for Interstellar Research on Planetary Futures. Jonathon Keats is Chief Terrestrial Librarian in Partnership with the SETI Institute.
In the summer of 1950, several scientists were discussing extraterrestrial intelligence over lunch. Responding to the claim that intelligent life must be commonplace throughout the universe, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Enrico Fermi famously asked,
“Where is everybody?”
With this conundrum, known as the Fermi Paradox, Fermi called attention to the fact that a universe teeming with intelligence would likely be obvious to us. To explain the absence of extraterrestrial contact, commonly referred to as the Great Silence, scientists have hypothesized a Great Filter: Life must pass one or more crucial technological thresholds in order to colonize interstellar space. Some aspects of societal advancement appear to be self-defeating for the majority of advanced civilizations.
SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)- at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory. The SETI Institute is a non-profit research organization, located in the Silicon Valley close to the NASA Ames Research Center. The SETI Institute mission is to lead humanity's quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the universe and share that knowledge with the world.
Jonathon Keats, Chief Terrestrial Librarian interview with Elizabeth Merritt, Vice President, Strategic Foresight and Founding Director, Center for the Future of Museums, American Alliance of Museums.
The Library of the Great Silence: A Space for Beings Throughout the Universe to Explore Shared Challenges (Apr 27, 2022).
Does anyone else feel mildly ill when they think about the implications of Fermi's paradox? I remember hearing a radio program about a guy who was deeply disturbed by "the silence." I thought it was so silly until I sat with it for awhile and considered the implications of a silent universe. It suddenly felt like everything on our planet - factories billowing smoke and statues piercing through the clouds and fisherman hauling in the latest catch - all of it suddenly seemed so trivial and small and lonely, like a little kid doing a play for two of their plastic action figures alone in a forest.
If Jonathon Keats is Chief Terrestrial Librarian, can I be the first Chief Extraterrestrial Librarian?