The Briefing Room

The Briefing Room

2/3/2025, 4:39:04 PM

This is the best thing I have come across 👇

The Briefing Room

2/3/2025, 4:39:14 PM

👆🏼There is a book that no one can finish reading in their lifetime, and it has only 10 pages. In 1960, French writer Raymond Queneau introduced what is probably the longest book in the world. It's called *Cent mille milliards de poèmes* (One hundred billion poems) and consists of only ten pages, each containing a sonnet. All the verses share the same rhyme pattern and are printed on strips, allowing readers to match lines from different sonnets. This configuration results in a total of 1014 possible combinations, which means that the book contains one hundred trillion unique poems. The implication is that no one will ever be able to read the entire book, even with the greatest effort, because it would take millions of years to match all possible combinations of poems, without taking breaks to eat, sleep or read anything else. And all of this is just ten pages! Every mix you create will result in a consistent sonnet with proper stanzas, rhythm and rhyme. Also, it's quite likely that any random poem is one no one has read before. Queneau himself claimed that taking about 45 seconds to read a sonnet and another 15 seconds to prepare the next one, it would take about 200 million years to read all possible combinations. Credits: Curiosamente alucinante

The Briefing Room

2/13/2025, 2:17:36 AM

Written by Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist is a philosophical novel that revolves around Santiago, a young shepherd, who dreams of discovering a hidden treasure near the Egyptian pyramids. Encouraged by a mysterious king, he sells his flock and embarks on a journey across the desert. Along the way, he meets a crystal merchant, an Englishman studying alchemy, and the wise alchemist, who teaches him about following his Personal Legend—his true purpose in life. Through trials, love, and self-discovery, Santiago learns that the real treasure lies within him and that his destiny was always within reach. Santiago learns to listen to the Soul of the World. He falls in love with a desert woman - Fatima, who teaches him about true love. Santiago learns, through the hardships, failures and self-discovery that the universe conspires to help those who pursue their dreams with conviction.