Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Book of Babel?
The Book of Babel is a universal system that assigns every valid Unicode text a unique numerical address, and allows that address to reproduce the exact original text.
It functions as a coordinate space for text rather than a storage system, database, or generator.
What does it mean to “encode” and “decode”?
Encoding produces a numerical address that corresponds to a specific piece of text. Decoding retrieves the exact text associated with a given address.
From a user perspective, the process is exact and reversible.
Is this encryption or cryptography?
No. The Book of Babel is not designed to conceal information or provide secrecy.
It is a representation system. If secrecy or security is required, standard encryption methods should be applied separately.
Is this system secure?
The Book of Babel is not a security product. Its purpose is to provide a consistent and exact representation of text, not to protect or obscure it.
Are there duplicates or collisions?
No. Each valid text corresponds to a single address, and each address corresponds to a single text.
What is the maximum size of text I can encode?
There is no fixed size limit built into the system. Practical limits depend on available computing resources and the size of the numbers involved.
Does this support all languages?
Yes. Any language or symbol supported by Unicode can be represented.
Is The Book of Babel open source?
No. The Book of Babel is publicly accessible but not open source.
Users are free to interact with the system through the official website and universe, but the internal logic that powers it is not published.
Why isn’t the internal logic public?
The Book of Babel is intended to function as a single, consistent system. Keeping the internal logic private helps preserve consistency, prevent incompatible variants, and ensure that the system behaves identically over time.
Can I use The Book of Babel publicly or commercially?
Personal and exploratory use is permitted through the official interfaces provided on this site.
Commercial use, redistribution, or derivative systems should be discussed directly with the project owner.
What is the “Universe” of The Book of Babel?
The universe is an interactive environment built around the system, allowing users to explore text addresses as locations rather than abstract values.
The website explains the idea. The universe allows it to be experienced.