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I really like this optimistic approach to the idea of a "library full of hope and possibility." The image of ideas waiting to be discovered and then assigned to one human being or another is very positive, as it suggests that we do still have a sense of agency in the picking of ideas. Or is it that we just stumble upon these ideas by chance, and then use them in our own way to advance our world? Because if they all already exist, we have done none of the original thinking...

However, I suppose I still find this image positive because even if we do happen upon the ideas within the library by chance, we are still given the power to possess these ideas. We as humans are still necessary pieces of this equation, as was said above, because without someone to act on an idea, or realize it and believe that it came from one's own mind (and therefore feel a sense of devotion to or pride in the idea) then what good is it?

This is a complexity of the mind that I struggle with: we may believe that these ideas were created from our own original thought and, I suppose imagination and innovation, when really they are all within this "library of infinite ideas" and were perhaps channeled through us by chance. I guess this could take away some of the value of the human sense of agency, because we all want to believe that we are clever and creative and will come up with the "next best thing" whether that is a cure for cancer or a Snuggie part II. This brings me back to the idea that many people have been exploring in the blog this week, that it is very difficult to become comfortable with this idea of chance being responsible, at some deeper level, for everything that is happening in our lives, in our evolution and perhaps even in our minds. This is why I like this positive approach, because it says that we are still important in the using the ideas and finding any one of the possibilities "waiting on dusty shelves" and making it our own, and therefore we can feel a sense of agency without delving too much into the idea that perhaps it was all due to chance.