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To play the devil's advocate, maybe they deserve to die out. If they would have innovated and conquered first, their language could have lived and ours could be

by 67726e 12y ago

To play the devil's advocate, maybe they deserve to die out. If they would have innovated and conquered first, their language could have lived and ours could be the one on its deathbed. Survival of the fittest, if you will.

_ak 12y ago
I knew I'd stumble upon Social Darwinism pretty soon here.
Dewie 12y ago
> To play the devil's advocate, maybe they deserve to die out. In other words "let me present my genuine opinion by wrapping it in a more presentable delivery".
- 67726e 12y ago
  I really have no opinion either way. The thought just crossed my head. What if.
JulianMorrison 12y ago
The devil has enough advocates. Every time the words "to play the devil's advocate..." cross your brain, just punch yourself in the face instead. Soon the urge will pass.
- 67726e 12y ago
  Every time you feel like posting a snarky reply on Hacker News, go fuck yourself. It's an honest question and I was hoping for some interesting answers. I was hoping someone would come along and have something interesting a la Jarred Diamond's "Guns, Germs, & Steel"[0] that may explore what role languages had on development of cultures, similar to the aforementioned book's exploration of the development of civilizations and how that led to the fateful interactions that have shaped the modern world. No, instead of an insightful answer, let's just let our liberal outrage fly at a comment that could not possibly have any good or real intent behind it. I'm clearly just a neo-Nazi posting up in here in HN, advocating the destruction of those damn Injuns! God forbid one uses a rhetorical device! [0] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns,_Germs,_and_Steel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns,_Germs,_and_Steel
  - JulianMorrison 12y ago
    If I thought you were arguing in good faith, I'd say something like: you are wasting your time running toxicology screens on a patient with the knife hilt still protruding. It's intensely unsubtle what happened: the languages were banned, boarding schools beat kids for talking anything but English, and so on. However, I feel that nobody plays devil's advocate in good faith. In the worst case it's a shallow wrapper for "lets pretend my hate is a hypothetical" or in the best, "lets spend a few minutes kicking the skulls of innocents down the road, merely for idle argument's sake." Which evinces such a callous disregard it's hardly better than the former.
    - 67726e 12y ago
      Not every dead language is a result of a genocide. My question stands on it's own, and there is more to it than what you imply. Yes, the most obvious, ready examples are what you say, but not all.

by 67726e 12y ago

_ak 12y ago

I knew I'd stumble upon Social Darwinism pretty soon here.

Dewie 12y ago

> To play the devil's advocate, maybe they deserve to die out. In other words "let me present my genuine opinion by wrapping it in a more presentable delivery".

67726e 12y ago
I really have no opinion either way. The thought just crossed my head. What if.

JulianMorrison 12y ago

The devil has enough advocates. Every time the words "to play the devil's advocate..." cross your brain, just punch yourself in the face instead. Soon the urge will pass.

67726e 12y ago
Every time you feel like posting a snarky reply on Hacker News, go fuck yourself. It's an honest question and I was hoping for some interesting answers. I was hoping someone would come along and have something interesting a la Jarred Diamond's "Guns, Germs, & Steel"[0] that may explore what role languages had on development of cultures, similar to the aforementioned book's exploration of the development of civilizations and how that led to the fateful interactions that have shaped the modern world. No, instead of an insightful answer, let's just let our liberal outrage fly at a comment that could not possibly have any good or real intent behind it. I'm clearly just a neo-Nazi posting up in here in HN, advocating the destruction of those damn Injuns! God forbid one uses a rhetorical device! [0] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns,_Germs,_and_Steel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns,_Germs,_and_Steel
- JulianMorrison 12y ago
  If I thought you were arguing in good faith, I'd say something like: you are wasting your time running toxicology screens on a patient with the knife hilt still protruding. It's intensely unsubtle what happened: the languages were banned, boarding schools beat kids for talking anything but English, and so on. However, I feel that nobody plays devil's advocate in good faith. In the worst case it's a shallow wrapper for "lets pretend my hate is a hypothetical" or in the best, "lets spend a few minutes kicking the skulls of innocents down the road, merely for idle argument's sake." Which evinces such a callous disregard it's hardly better than the former.
  - 67726e 12y ago
    Not every dead language is a result of a genocide. My question stands on it's own, and there is more to it than what you imply. Yes, the most obvious, ready examples are what you say, but not all.