> Imagine if the entire world spoke a single language. Would we ever want to invent new languages [...]? First: Very few languages are invented but a lot of in

> Imagine if the entire world spoke a single language. Would we ever want to invent new languages [...]? First: Very few languages are invented but a lot of individual languages fragment over time - the more widespread they are, the more they fragment[1]. Sranan Tongo[2] and Papiamentu[3] are two nice examples of new languages that were quite recently created by speakers of some dominant language. Influences mix, people adapt words from languages spoken nearby or just make up their own words and they stick. Second: Wittgenstein said that "the limits of my language are the limits of my world". Different languages allow us to think different concepts. Trying to translate something from one language into another that does not have a 1:1 translation is usually a very thought-provoking thing for me and forces me to reflect on my own culture. Great examples are the Japanese "tsundoku" (pile of unread books [4]) or the German "Feierabend" (the time after finishing work for the day). In summary: I think the desire to have one "global" language is only a technocrat's unrealistic dream and its pursuit would be the attempt to streamline thinking at the expense of everyone's culture and philosophical potentials. Rather, at least superficially, learn a few more languages. [1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1580745/English-will-fragment-into-global-dialects.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1580745/English-will-... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sranan_Tongo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sranan_Tongo [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papiamento https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papiamento [4] http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/tsundoku-should-enter-the-english-language.html http://www.openculture.com/2014/07/tsundoku-should-enter-the...