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1000 years ago, following this idea it would have been Arabic. 2000 years ago, it would have been Sanskrit. Predicting something 1000 years into the future is
by fooker 3y ago
1000 years ago, following this idea it would have been Arabic.
2000 years ago, it would have been Sanskrit.
Predicting something 1000 years into the future is tricky business.
It takes one calamity/war/etc to tilt the balance.
If Yellowstone erupts in 200 years, it's unlikely English would remain the dominant language. Maybe Mandarin, who knows.
- skeaker 3y agoThings are different enough this time what with the technology boom and the internet and everything that I don't think those are entirely fair comparisons. That said, you're still totally correct that trying to predict the world a thousand years from now is pretty much pointless.
- stickfigure 3y agoA thousand years ago human populations were memetically isolated by geography. That changed somewhat with the printing press, but the internet puts us all in the same meme sphere. There are only 330 million English speakers in the United States, of the 1.5-2 billion worldwide. Yellowstone could kill everyone in North America and English would still be the most common language on Earth.
- fooker 3y agoThe amount of new movies, literature, and similar cultural artifacts matter here, not the absolute number of people who understand a language right now. Language comprehension stats can change in as little as one generation.