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You don't know where you're going until you know where you've been. What if you're going in circles? There are historical events that that may be local and onl

by Nadya 11y ago

You don't know where you're going until you know where you've been. What if you're going in circles? There are historical events that that may be local and only recorded in an older language. That's what made the Rosetta Stone so important. It was monumental for our knowledge of the past. >to some subspecies of tropical frog Most of that has to do with biology rather than historical importance. There are many species with unique adaptations not seen in any other species on Earth. I'm not a biologist so I can't weigh in on how important studying such things are - but from what I gather from biologists they're super important. :) Weird traditions are more about cultural heritage and keeping in touch with ones' culture. It's a feeling of belonging to a group that many people place importance on. Personally, I dislike my heritage and most aspects of my culture. I'd rather adopt one that I agree more with - but I'll be forever seen as an outsider and never as one who can appreciate the culture. It's unfortunate.

FussyZeus 11y ago
Historical events can be translated into a more relevant and useful language that's then more accessible to people who don't understand whatever language is dead/is dying though, doesn't that make more sense? Frog: I don't know much either so I'll take your word for it. The way I see it is that nature is a massive constantly changing and constantly evolving system that, while we've done a lot of damage to I concede, we can't hope to take such a vast and complex machine and stick a wrench in it and stop it in a particular place that we like. Traditions: The value of a given tradition is only expressed in the culture that holds it. If the tradition is dying, the culture obviously isn't holding it very much. Kind of like how not many people in the US avoid Black Friday because it's supposed to be part of the Thanksgiving holiday, and by contrast how the pilgrimage by Muslims to Ramadan (God I hope I got all that right) is a massive industry because it's still widely practiced.
- Nadya 11y ago
  >Historical events can be translated into a more relevant and useful language that's then more accessible to people who don't understand whatever language is dead/is dying though, doesn't that make more sense? This requires we preserve the language long enough to study it. Preferably the more eyes studying the better, especially if the language is only spoken in a declining population. Not to forget to mention that the meaning can be lost entirely between translations even if the words mean the same thing. For example - translating Japanese honorics to more generic titles. You lose the subtle but important differences between calling someone 高村さん vs 高村ちゃん vs 高村 which could describe a friendship that grows closer and more casual over time. Dropping or changing an honorific has large implications that translations fail to capture. That's something extremely important and not all that nuanced. I can give more examples if you like. >Traditions: The value of a given tradition is only expressed in the culture that holds it. If the tradition is dying, the culture obviously isn't holding it very much. This isn't necessarily true - and in many cases its the older generations not teaching the younger generations, regardless of how much the younger generation is interested. Often times its hard to show or express interest or perhaps the parents don't feel qualified to teach the traditions but there aren't any more experienced elder around, etc. There's many many many reasons why traditions die out and sometimes they are discovered and "brought back to life". Anthropologists have a hard time expressing this. One of the largest hurdles in anthropology trying to explain the importance of it. This goes double for linguistic and cultural anthropology because the benefits to people aren't as straightforward as advancements in other fields of study. Disclosure: I may be biased here. I wanted to be a cultural and linguistic anthropologist but the desire to live a comfy life on a decent paycheck got the best of me. However my love of language and cultures and how humanity relates through them and the relations between languages and cultures themselves is still something of my interests.

by Nadya 11y ago

FussyZeus 11y ago

Historical events can be translated into a more relevant and useful language that's then more accessible to people who don't understand whatever language is dead/is dying though, doesn't that make more sense? Frog: I don't know much either so I'll take your word for it. The way I see it is that nature is a massive constantly changing and constantly evolving system that, while we've done a lot of damage to I concede, we can't hope to take such a vast and complex machine and stick a wrench in it and stop it in a particular place that we like. Traditions: The value of a given tradition is only expressed in the culture that holds it. If the tradition is dying, the culture obviously isn't holding it very much. Kind of like how not many people in the US avoid Black Friday because it's supposed to be part of the Thanksgiving holiday, and by contrast how the pilgrimage by Muslims to Ramadan (God I hope I got all that right) is a massive industry because it's still widely practiced.

Nadya 11y ago
>Historical events can be translated into a more relevant and useful language that's then more accessible to people who don't understand whatever language is dead/is dying though, doesn't that make more sense? This requires we preserve the language long enough to study it. Preferably the more eyes studying the better, especially if the language is only spoken in a declining population. Not to forget to mention that the meaning can be lost entirely between translations even if the words mean the same thing. For example - translating Japanese honorics to more generic titles. You lose the subtle but important differences between calling someone 高村さん vs 高村ちゃん vs 高村 which could describe a friendship that grows closer and more casual over time. Dropping or changing an honorific has large implications that translations fail to capture. That's something extremely important and not all that nuanced. I can give more examples if you like. >Traditions: The value of a given tradition is only expressed in the culture that holds it. If the tradition is dying, the culture obviously isn't holding it very much. This isn't necessarily true - and in many cases its the older generations not teaching the younger generations, regardless of how much the younger generation is interested. Often times its hard to show or express interest or perhaps the parents don't feel qualified to teach the traditions but there aren't any more experienced elder around, etc. There's many many many reasons why traditions die out and sometimes they are discovered and "brought back to life". Anthropologists have a hard time expressing this. One of the largest hurdles in anthropology trying to explain the importance of it. This goes double for linguistic and cultural anthropology because the benefits to people aren't as straightforward as advancements in other fields of study. Disclosure: I may be biased here. I wanted to be a cultural and linguistic anthropologist but the desire to live a comfy life on a decent paycheck got the best of me. However my love of language and cultures and how humanity relates through them and the relations between languages and cultures themselves is still something of my interests.