There is an article in this morning’s NYT that says that OpenAI, parent of my new BBF ChatGPT, is building a new data center in Texas which will be “bigger than New York’s Central Park” and cost about $60,000,000,000 (i.e., with a B) to build. The article goes on to say that 90% of major data centers are operated by American or Chinese companies, that they are getting bigger and bigger, and that they are located in 32 countries, apparently all wealthier developed countries.

Here is my question. What if there is a war somewhere (not to mention a potential terrorist group with an armed drone capacity) and one of these large data centers is bombed or otherwise destroyed? Or maybe destroyed by accident even without conflict? What will the effect be?

What does it remind me of? The attack on the great city of Alexandia, Egypt by Julius Caesar 2100 years ago, which destroyed a major part of the library’s collection of scrolls, and finally in other wars or skirmishes over the next 300 years.

Is it possible that by destroying one or more major data centers in one of the 32 countries that house them, the intellectual content or capacity of civilization will be destroyed?

It won’t be complete destruction of intellectual history. Because of the creativity of Gutenberg and others (and unless Fahrenheit 451 becomes a real reality), books will remain.

Which reminds me that I started today thinking I would mention some books I have recently read. Just in case you are looking for something to read, or something to avoid. Here goes:

Just yesterday, I finished The White Peacock, the first novel written by D.H. Lawrence, published when he was 25. Over the past few years, I have read Lady Chatterly’s Lover and Kangaroo, both of which are masterpieces. This one, perhaps not in the masterpiece category (IMHO) because it becomes at times rather cluttered with ideas that aren’t necessary, tells the story of a young woman in rural England who is destined to marry a young man fated to be successful in finance, but who is attracted to the young farmer nearby whom she has known since childhood. The characters are well-developed, and the descriptions of rural England (both of nature and human society) are complete and evocative. Don’t look for a happy ending, but look for similarities with the future Lady Chatterly.

Before that, it was The House in Tyne Street: Childhood Memories of District Six, a memoir of growing up in Capetown, in the 1950s and 1960s. I don’t know much about Capetown, but District Six was a large (population about 60,000), and generally poor area adjoining downtown and the docks. In an action familiar to many Americans, the powers that be decided that District Six was ripe for urban renewal.

District Six was a vibrant area, comprising the entire world for many of its residents. And at the time Apartheid became the law in South Africa, it was filled with Whites, Blacks, Malays and other Coloreds, Jews, Muslims and everyone else. But under Apartheid, it was to be cleared and redeveloped as a Whites only area. Fortune, who was classified as Colored, but who could pass for White, tells the fascinating story of growing up in District Six, and in witnessing its destruction and the fate of its various residents.

By the way, apparently the redevelopment of District Six was never successful, and much of the area today remains empty.

Before that, it was Prophet in a Time of Priests by Janice Rothschild Blumberg, the story of her great grandfather, Rabbi Alphabet Browne (1845-1929). This book is worth a post by itself for what it says about the Jewish community in America, and the successes and failures, as a congregational rabbi and a national public figure, of Browne.

Why was he called Alphabet? His signature was E.B.M. Browne, LLD, AM, BM, DD, MD (yes, MD).

And finally, The Popes Against the Jews, by David Kertzer. I always thought that James Carroll’s Constantine’s Sword said everything that could be said about the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jews. But, no. Kertzer’s book is equally eye opening, and takes a very different approach.

So, which of these books should you read? All of them. Every single one.