3 ms·

A better question might be: why would anyone think this would work?

by ryanwaggoner 18y ago

ryanv 18y ago
Indeed. Next up: Why doesn't the world speak Esperanto?
- tokenadult 18y ago
  Why doesn't the world speak Esperanto? That question is well answered by Justin Rye's FAQ about Esperanto: http://www.xibalba.demon.co.uk/jbr/ranto/ http://www.xibalba.demon.co.uk/jbr/ranto/ The short answer is that Esperanto is much harder to learn than Esperantists claim it is, and thus it has never had many speakers, and thus it provides lousy return on investment for learning it. The total number of all Esperanto speakers in the whole wide world (at any given level of proficiency you care to define) is less than the number of new speakers added by English or Chinese in a single year. There will always be much better return on investment of time, money, and effort to learning any of the top dozen or so natural languages than to learning Esperanto. And that's why Esperanto is the language for which tomorrow never comes as to it being widely used as an auxiliary international language. Studying Esperanto is a fine hobby, and one I have engaged in, but it is a poor solution to the practical problem of communicating with more people who don't know your native language. I say this as a person who has learned multiple languages from multiple language families.
- bitwize 18y ago
  It's promoted by Esperanto Corporation, a front for Shadowloo. "Of COURSE!"
gry 18y ago
Because 1000 units in one day is simpler in concept than 24 units in one day. A hour has no solar equivalent, unlike a day or year. It is simpler, _less_ arbitrary and parallels most of the world's measurement system. It sends the time zone concept to /dev/null and makes changing clocks for daylight savings unnecessary (though to honor DST, it might be a PITA). The end result: it is explicit without any additional context.
- ryanwaggoner 18y ago
  Thank you for proving my point. 99.9 people out of 100 would look at what you just wrote with a blank stare. This didn't work because there's no way to sell it to 99.9% of people. It might be more elegant and simpler mathematically, but you're fighting against centuries of inertia for little to no gain to the very people that would need to adopt this to make it work. I can't believe we're even talking about this :)
  - gry 18y ago
    Its akin to the United States moving to the metric system or the internet to IPv6, methinks. Both are wonderful in theory, but the transition is painful. The only way I see it becoming pervasive is either a) another recession and a stimulus package going from a green economy to an internet time one (just sayin' ;) ) or b) slow, steady introduction, which would be generations in the making.

A better question might be: why would anyone think this would work?

ryanv 18y ago

Indeed. Next up: Why doesn't the world speak Esperanto?

tokenadult 18y ago
Why doesn't the world speak Esperanto? That question is well answered by Justin Rye's FAQ about Esperanto: http://www.xibalba.demon.co.uk/jbr/ranto/ http://www.xibalba.demon.co.uk/jbr/ranto/ The short answer is that Esperanto is much harder to learn than Esperantists claim it is, and thus it has never had many speakers, and thus it provides lousy return on investment for learning it. The total number of all Esperanto speakers in the whole wide world (at any given level of proficiency you care to define) is less than the number of new speakers added by English or Chinese in a single year. There will always be much better return on investment of time, money, and effort to learning any of the top dozen or so natural languages than to learning Esperanto. And that's why Esperanto is the language for which tomorrow never comes as to it being widely used as an auxiliary international language. Studying Esperanto is a fine hobby, and one I have engaged in, but it is a poor solution to the practical problem of communicating with more people who don't know your native language. I say this as a person who has learned multiple languages from multiple language families.
bitwize 18y ago
It's promoted by Esperanto Corporation, a front for Shadowloo. "Of COURSE!"

gry 18y ago

Because 1000 units in one day is simpler in concept than 24 units in one day. A hour has no solar equivalent, unlike a day or year. It is simpler, _less_ arbitrary and parallels most of the world's measurement system. It sends the time zone concept to /dev/null and makes changing clocks for daylight savings unnecessary (though to honor DST, it might be a PITA). The end result: it is explicit without any additional context.

ryanwaggoner 18y ago
Thank you for proving my point. 99.9 people out of 100 would look at what you just wrote with a blank stare. This didn't work because there's no way to sell it to 99.9% of people. It might be more elegant and simpler mathematically, but you're fighting against centuries of inertia for little to no gain to the very people that would need to adopt this to make it work. I can't believe we're even talking about this :)
- gry 18y ago
  Its akin to the United States moving to the metric system or the internet to IPv6, methinks. Both are wonderful in theory, but the transition is painful. The only way I see it becoming pervasive is either a) another recession and a stimulus package going from a green economy to an internet time one (just sayin' ;) ) or b) slow, steady introduction, which would be generations in the making.