@Weenis It is. In all the countries I have been to, there are signs in English that give me a hint as to what is being said. With a tablet of paper I can convey what I want between drawing items, drawing stick figures, and using English combined with the few words in their language that I have picked up. English is used in many places as the second language.
If we do it naturally, that is fine. If we force it, I’m going to have issues with that. We have translators and even apps that can translate voice and text. We can survive with multiple languages. I also feel different languages are a thing of beauty. I’ve heard some argue that we already have a universal language in math.
@yin good points. some people believe math is really the only thing we can know for sure, specifically, that there are sets in the Universe.
on your point on the beauty of it; I think I have to agree with you. think of visiting other cultures/lands and how that is so much an experience. I never feel more enriched than when I experience another culture in some way. We would be losing that. we would be stripping people of their identity if a universal language were enforced without everyone being complicit.
How important is it to you to try and understand others and conversely to be understood? If you meet someone where you live that tries to communicate to you in a different language, what do you feel? What do you feel if you look at packaging in a store that is written in Spanish?
@Scarlett I think I changed quite a bit about this over my life. There was a time where I didn’t care and felt like other languages just complicated things. While that can happen under certain circumstances, I have become to find beauty in it. If I am surrounded in things that I can’t read, sure, I will feel a bit out of place (assuming there is no text on them in English), but I would also have this feeling of joy that I could exist where things are different like that but are nearly the same at the core of it since we are all still the same animal. If we are talking about just that bit of Spanish on labels of items in stores, I sometimes like reading them, trying to read what it says. I took Spanish a number of times throughout school, but not that much was retained unfortunately. I have never been one to really care about tradition or even culture too much, but I now find an appreciation to those that I’m not normally accustomed to (if they are ok morally, of course.)
I like some pretty random songs, usually only a song or so from a group. When I find a song in a different language that I can’t understand but I enjoy listening to, it makes me smile that something like that can exist. I then go look at the translated lyrics just to be sure what it is I am enjoying, but it usually comes out to be good or average at worst.
Unless someone needs something from me or I from them, I don’t mind not being able to understand them. If we can’t communicate but we still want to, we can make something work. We humans have common gestures and hobbies, so smiling, nodding, pointing, we can find a way to talk about something I am sure. Understanding the same language is convenient, but it isn’t needed to enjoy one’s company. If we have technology on us, like a phone, we can try to use it to translate specific words if necessary. That could be also what helped change my mind over time. Our technology and access to information like that. While still not perfect, it is so much better than being left totally in the dark.
This is highly subjective. First you have to define your universe. If you are only talking about human language on this planet, then you have artificially limited your universe. Such thinking is small and quite discriminate.
The universe at large, is teeming with life, with an infinite number of sentient species, each with their own language. Yet universally, the true universal language is not mathematics, it is closer to an elemental level…an atomic level if you will. All life is made up of atomic particles: photons, protons, electrons, and neurons. The basic building blocks of life are the true universal language.
It would be arrogant to think that Earth were the only inhabited planet with intelligent life on it. A universal language already exists, but mankind is either too arrogant or too ignorant to understand it.
We do, it’s called Music. The musical scales are the same for everyone in the world. I can hear a song that is sung in a different language, and the music can still move me in beautiful ways.
At first I was going to say we do and it’s called Sign Language, but there are many forms for sign language across the world.
What would I do if we were forced to use one language? I would worry that the world has gone crazy, but I would like to learn another language. Americans are so monolingual. Sad. When we visited France, we talked to many people who spoke various languages. One lady was “embarrassed” to tell us she ONLY spoke 5 languages.
8 responses to “Should we have a universal language?”
It’s English.
Get over it.
@Weenis It is. In all the countries I have been to, there are signs in English that give me a hint as to what is being said. With a tablet of paper I can convey what I want between drawing items, drawing stick figures, and using English combined with the few words in their language that I have picked up. English is used in many places as the second language.
If we do it naturally, that is fine. If we force it, I’m going to have issues with that. We have translators and even apps that can translate voice and text. We can survive with multiple languages. I also feel different languages are a thing of beauty. I’ve heard some argue that we already have a universal language in math.
@yin good points. some people believe math is really the only thing we can know for sure, specifically, that there are sets in the Universe.
on your point on the beauty of it; I think I have to agree with you. think of visiting other cultures/lands and how that is so much an experience. I never feel more enriched than when I experience another culture in some way. We would be losing that. we would be stripping people of their identity if a universal language were enforced without everyone being complicit.
How important is it to you to try and understand others and conversely to be understood? If you meet someone where you live that tries to communicate to you in a different language, what do you feel? What do you feel if you look at packaging in a store that is written in Spanish?
@Scarlett I think I changed quite a bit about this over my life. There was a time where I didn’t care and felt like other languages just complicated things. While that can happen under certain circumstances, I have become to find beauty in it. If I am surrounded in things that I can’t read, sure, I will feel a bit out of place (assuming there is no text on them in English), but I would also have this feeling of joy that I could exist where things are different like that but are nearly the same at the core of it since we are all still the same animal. If we are talking about just that bit of Spanish on labels of items in stores, I sometimes like reading them, trying to read what it says. I took Spanish a number of times throughout school, but not that much was retained unfortunately. I have never been one to really care about tradition or even culture too much, but I now find an appreciation to those that I’m not normally accustomed to (if they are ok morally, of course.)
I like some pretty random songs, usually only a song or so from a group. When I find a song in a different language that I can’t understand but I enjoy listening to, it makes me smile that something like that can exist. I then go look at the translated lyrics just to be sure what it is I am enjoying, but it usually comes out to be good or average at worst.
Unless someone needs something from me or I from them, I don’t mind not being able to understand them. If we can’t communicate but we still want to, we can make something work. We humans have common gestures and hobbies, so smiling, nodding, pointing, we can find a way to talk about something I am sure. Understanding the same language is convenient, but it isn’t needed to enjoy one’s company. If we have technology on us, like a phone, we can try to use it to translate specific words if necessary. That could be also what helped change my mind over time. Our technology and access to information like that. While still not perfect, it is so much better than being left totally in the dark.
This is highly subjective. First you have to define your universe. If you are only talking about human language on this planet, then you have artificially limited your universe. Such thinking is small and quite discriminate.
The universe at large, is teeming with life, with an infinite number of sentient species, each with their own language. Yet universally, the true universal language is not mathematics, it is closer to an elemental level…an atomic level if you will. All life is made up of atomic particles: photons, protons, electrons, and neurons. The basic building blocks of life are the true universal language.
It would be arrogant to think that Earth were the only inhabited planet with intelligent life on it. A universal language already exists, but mankind is either too arrogant or too ignorant to understand it.
Let’s do it, as long as we can still embrace and utilize other languages as well.
We do, it’s called Music. The musical scales are the same for everyone in the world. I can hear a song that is sung in a different language, and the music can still move me in beautiful ways.
At first I was going to say we do and it’s called Sign Language, but there are many forms for sign language across the world.
What would I do if we were forced to use one language? I would worry that the world has gone crazy, but I would like to learn another language. Americans are so monolingual. Sad. When we visited France, we talked to many people who spoke various languages. One lady was “embarrassed” to tell us she ONLY spoke 5 languages.