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It's really documenting the culture. A great thing in itself. I think of cultures and languages as tools. When they don't serve a purpose anymore, they should

It's really documenting the culture. A great thing in itself. I think of cultures and languages as tools. When they don't serve a purpose anymore, they should be replaced by something more functional.

encipriano 2y ago
This demonstrates English utilitarianism basically won the philosophical war in Europe.
meigwilym 2y ago
What is the purpose of culture? It's a way of life. Arguably no culture has purpose, so do we force people to live in a different way? Cultures and languages die out because they're slowly (or revolutionarily quickly!) replaced by another. It's not like there are people out there speaking no language because their mother tongue has died out. And who gets to decide that a language has no purpose? I don't like the way this argument goes.
- hollerith 2y ago
  >who gets to decide that a language has no purpose? The parents of the child doing the language learning or the adult doing it.
krapp 2y ago
>When they don't serve a purpose anymore, they should be replaced by something more functional. If and when that's a voluntary and organic process, sure. The problem is that replacement more often that not comes about through ethnic cleansing and violence. These indigenous languages were perfectly functional to the people who spoke them at the time but they were replaced because they didn't serve the purpose of colonizers. And "lost" languages do get reclaimed from time to time. Hebrew and Irish being two examples.
- BurningFrog 2y ago
  Hebrew and Irish are illustrative examples. Hebrew was brought back from the dead for the Jewish refugees populating Israel to have a common language. This solved a genuine practical problem. Teaching Irish to kids who all speak English does not help anyone communicate better. It seems like a nationalist pride project, and those are not my favorite.
  - krapp 2y ago
    Israelis could just as well have chosen English for a common language, or Arabic, or any other living language. Reviving Hebrew was just as much about nationalist pride (or preserving culture if you like) as reviving Irish was for Ireland.
DrillShopper 2y ago
> When they don't serve a purpose anymore, they should be replaced by something more functional. Okay colonizer.

encipriano 2y ago

This demonstrates English utilitarianism basically won the philosophical war in Europe.

meigwilym 2y ago

What is the purpose of culture? It's a way of life. Arguably no culture has purpose, so do we force people to live in a different way? Cultures and languages die out because they're slowly (or revolutionarily quickly!) replaced by another. It's not like there are people out there speaking no language because their mother tongue has died out. And who gets to decide that a language has no purpose? I don't like the way this argument goes.

hollerith 2y ago
>who gets to decide that a language has no purpose? The parents of the child doing the language learning or the adult doing it.

krapp 2y ago

>When they don't serve a purpose anymore, they should be replaced by something more functional. If and when that's a voluntary and organic process, sure. The problem is that replacement more often that not comes about through ethnic cleansing and violence. These indigenous languages were perfectly functional to the people who spoke them at the time but they were replaced because they didn't serve the purpose of colonizers. And "lost" languages do get reclaimed from time to time. Hebrew and Irish being two examples.

BurningFrog 2y ago
Hebrew and Irish are illustrative examples. Hebrew was brought back from the dead for the Jewish refugees populating Israel to have a common language. This solved a genuine practical problem. Teaching Irish to kids who all speak English does not help anyone communicate better. It seems like a nationalist pride project, and those are not my favorite.
- krapp 2y ago
  Israelis could just as well have chosen English for a common language, or Arabic, or any other living language. Reviving Hebrew was just as much about nationalist pride (or preserving culture if you like) as reviving Irish was for Ireland.

DrillShopper 2y ago

> When they don't serve a purpose anymore, they should be replaced by something more functional. Okay colonizer.