The Royal Library of Alexandria was the greatest depository of wisdom this world had ever known. It held perhaps half a million scrolls organized into ten rooms, each dedicated to a different branch of learning. The library burned, probably some time late in the 4th century, maybe later, and countless priceless pieces of knowledge became ash on the Mediterranean breeze. As of this writing, ATS boasts well over a million posts, the combined boards house over 1.5 million posts. ATS is the fulfillment of Ptolemy's dream (many centuries later, but a fulfillment nonetheless), in every way superior to its predecessor. The great library promised, and delivered, three very important things to the scholars of its time, this holy trinity: contemporary awareness, collaboration, and history, now all three rest in the hands of a digital descendant to that great building of marble and stone.

One can imagine the current events of the last millennia being considerably less hectic than they are today. With the advent of instantaneous globe-spanning communications, mankind has attained a sort of global hive mind in the form of the internet and other technology. People connected to this web are aware if an earthquake or tidal wave strikes anywhere, the global media will likely be aware of it within the hour, and anyone with television can gain knowledge of a dozen disparate dangers while eating dinner in their living room. In the days of old, it could take months for knowledge of such events to travel on the backs of merchants, years for it to make even the smallest ripple in the pool of our collective consciousness. This has changed, and ATS is at the forefront of that change. Awareness is power; the power to make good decisions, the power to protect, or even to profit, as you please. This sort of power simply cannot be over-estimated. Nature has gone to great lengths to bestow awareness to her creatures; the eyes of the squid, the ears of the elephant, the nose of man's best friend. The very survival of these creatures is dependant on their ability to perceive and interpret their environment, so it is with man. Sometimes it seems that nature has ignored man's needs, made us small and weak in comparison to the other creatures aboard this planet, gifted only with brains and thumbs we appear impotent in the midst of a dangerous world. In truth, man was lucky to be equipped with some of Nature's more subtly powerful adaptations, because with thumbs and minds, we were able to harness fire, and with fire came technology. With modern technology, we have more eyes than a fly!

Collaboration is particularly critical to the survival of our species, without it, we would never have advanced past caves and clubs. Every city, every automobile, everything mankind has built has arisen through collaboration. Individual enrichment is important, but no more so than collaborative research, discussion of ideas, and social interaction. It's widely understood that the whole of a thing can rarely be seen from the inside, and that to gain the most comprehensive picture of any situation, more angles are preferable to fewer. Without the influence of others, revelations can be hard to come by. As a writer, I've often found that my breakthroughs come most often in the wake of criticism, and the resulting discussion of my work. It's sometimes very difficult to stave off mental myopia without the assistance of others. ATS is, first and foremost, a community. The very essence of community is collaboration, communal effort. Just as the sages of Alexandria came together to enlighten each other and themselves, so do the patrons of ATS gather in this age. It wasn't all ivory towers and dusty books back then either, the diversity of class, creed, and religion, mingling in the city, allowed for a vibrant environment where learning, experience, and entertainment were indistinguishable. We are proudly carrying the torch, lit by Ptolemy. The invocation of this historically resonant name brings me to my third and final point, the sacred trust of history.

How many times does the protruding nail in your attic ceiling have to gouge your scalp before you remember to duck? It varies from person to person, but sometimes it takes a whole bunch of bruises. If the pain wasn't sufficient enough to be truly memorable, or was so abundant that you repressed it, the memory might not save you in time. If your mind is slow to see the warning signs, and your steps are quick, you will repeat your past errors. History is our collective memory. The duty of historians cannot be taken lightly. Now, some may argue that because ATS is made up of amateur historians, the historical record rendered is somehow less important.. Historical accounts are better in quantity, because any one instance, in the absence of other sources to give context, might as well be myth. Harlequin history was the solution provided by Alexandria, it is represented today in ATS, it was brilliant then, and it's no less brilliant now. The scrolls at Alexandria were a hodge-podge of everything you could imagine, from places all over the globe. Travelers to the city would hand their manuscripts and scrolls over to the scribes to be copied, so that the Royal Library was overflowing with writings of many sorts. The similarity between ATS and Alexandria is unmistakable. Who are we, the members, contributors, and viewers of ATS, but pilgrims, travelers, merchants, sages of the modern era, dropping off our knowledge, sharing stories, learning about places we've never been? If history repeats itself, which it certainly appears to, then it behooves us to do our part and contribute to the survival of our descendants, by giving them an accurate accounting of our mistakes and triumphs.

Alexandria was, at its peak, probably home to a few hundred thousand residents, a number ATS has yet to approach. Give it time though, and I have no doubt that we'll grow that large, and then probably be sacked by the Romans, end up persecuting the Jews, then the Christians, who'll burn the library, at which point we'll fall to the Muslims (twice), and have to start all over. Of course, we could make the most of this newfound communal awareness of history, and avoid those tragedies entirely, if it’s not too late.

     WyrdeOne
     ATS Contributer



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