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"There have been theories that (insert language) has always been superior for (insert hard science) because of inherent linguistic advantages." I've never hear
by sanskritabelt 13y ago
"There have been theories that (insert language) has always been superior for (insert hard science) because of inherent linguistic advantages."
I've never heard any of those theories coming from anybody who wasn't some know-nothing engineer whose idea of high literature was old Larry Niven stories.
- nicolethenerd 13y agoSee Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers. Last I checked, he wasn't a know-nothing engineer.
- sanskritabelt 13y agoLast I checked Malcolm Gladwell was a 'journalist' and barely a couple notches above Thomas Friedman on the intellectual rigor scale.
- VLM 13y agoOne example is previous century German physicists, chemists, and engineers had a very high opinion of themselves. Go back two centuries and add philosophers. I will agree its curious how those observations tend to appear from people describing their own accomplishments.
- gwern 13y agoI've been told that a lot of Chinese and Japanese prefer to discuss technical or philosophical topics in English or using English vocab, supposedly because those languages tend to the concrete rather than the abstractions necessary.
- ekm2 13y agoI've been told that a lot of Chinese and Japanese prefer to discuss technical or philosophical topics in English or using English vocab, supposedly because those languages tend to the concrete rather than the abstractions necessary. It is probably because it holds more opportunities for jobs in the US.
- gwern 13y agoAre they really going to preferentially talk to each other in English out of a long-term abstract desire to practice their English and get a job in the US? Having gone to university on a campus with a very high proportion of Chinese students, I can tell that even when they're actually in the US, they feel free to use their native languages all the time with each other.
- sanskritabelt 13y agoAnd you don't think this has anything to do with, for example, the fact that a lot of the available resources in the world of technology and philosophy are in English?
- gwern 13y agoThat matters, certainly, but the terms can be assimilated and then any further conversation carried out in the more convenient and fluent native language.
- gshubert17 13y agoOne argument that Latin is superior to mathematics because of its moral (not linguistic) advantages is found here: http://www.classicalliberalarts.com/library/whylatin.htm http://www.classicalliberalarts.com/library/whylatin.htm "Why Latin and Greek Must Be Studied", under section V. "Because Classical Literature is Morally Superior to Mathematics".
- sanskritabelt 13y agoThat is (a) not really the same kind of thing and (b) one of the least sufferable defenses of classical education I've seen in many years.