Your internet posts are read by historians 1000 years in the future—

reply to post by Swills


If there is a NWO in 1000 years, they will be talking about "A NWO" trying to control them.

And all the owners and MODs of ATS will have their heads in jars all the while still trying to "Deny Ignorance".

"The oldest AND best staff on the web."

reply to post by DISRAELI


Although I would agree that it is probable that language will change over time, it is improbable that no record of the way language is written and spoken will be available to future human beings. For language to truely be forgotten, vast stretches of time must pass, with no access to, or interest in them. Data is now bigger than the nation which produces it, information from one nation is near enough instantly distributed globally. Unless the entire structure, upon which EVERY nation is founded, were to collapse, unless every single nation were to be virtually destroyed in the same instant, the language we speak now will remain, in remnants spread throughout whatever is sure to remain, of the global data network. Also, there are books of every language, on every street, in many homes, libraries, and educational facilities. Again, unless these too were to be totally destroyed, globally, then something of them will survive.

The thing that allowed ancient languages to totally die, was that dialects and regional languages were only spoken by residents of those lands, those who traded with them, and by scholars, interested in those regions. Data in pretty much all languages currently spoken, can be found in this day and age, on every continent. The Chinese have access to vast amounts of data in English, and here in Britain, we have had great numbers of Chinese dwelling here for centuries now, so much so that elements of Chinese language and culture can be seen on every shopping parade, herb stores and bric-a-brac emporiums brimming with Chinese medicines, snacks, and ornamentation.

Also, because travel is much more common in these modern times, large cultures and languages are going to be next to impossible to extinguish. The ancient times were such that only nobility, soldiers, traders and wise men traveled. These days, any old muppet can, if in reciept of enough income, pay to jump on a plane and visit a far distant land, and many bring back a fascination for the land they visit.

The combination of near universal awareness of other cultures from around the world, and the internet which contains information from all over the Earth, means that short of a global catastrophe, language DEATH is unlikely, and it also means that written records, being as common as they are these days, of the various languages which exist now, are more likely to survive any comming catastrophe, just through sheer numbers. This is why I believe that multi-culturalism makes our species stronger and protects its intellectual and linguistic property. There are people from all over the world, all over the world. No one nation (aside from perhaps North Korea) exclusively contains only people from that nation.

For this reason, I believe it is unlikely that short of a cataclysm which ends all life, everywhere, it is unlikely that our languages as they are spoken today, will ever really be wiped out and forgotten.

Originally posted by TrueBrit
Although I would agree that it is probable that language will change over time, it is improbable that no record of the way language is written and spoken will be available to future human beings.

I agree with everything you say, because you're not disagreeing with what I said.
I made no suggestion that knowledge of our language would disappear altogether.
My point was that it would not be readable by ordinary people.
I used the phrase "highly-trained specialists".
How many people today can read the Anglo-Saxon of 1013? As for the people who can, they are the same people who would be able to read the English of 2013 in a thousand years time.
Everybody else would only have access to what they chose to translate into current language, just as most of us only read Anglo-Saxon literature if there's handy translation available.

For this reason, I believe it is unlikely that short of a cataclysm which ends all life, everywhere, it is unlikely that our languages as they are spoken today, will ever really be wiped out and forgotten.

They may not be forgotten, but the language "as she is spoke" will undoubtedly change.
That is what happens to language.
You can see it happening on ATS, thanks to the way that "spell as you pronounce" merchants spell their words- I saw a priceless example recently when one user addressed another as "mang".
Now, most people only speak one language at a time, and they only read easily the language they know, so they will be dependent upon translators for what's written in other languages.
Can you read works written in Chinese? If not, you prove my point.
There may be millions upon millions of pages of Chinese writing available, but that doesn't make it any more accessible to someone who doesn't know the language.
In a thousand years time, our posts on the internet will be as unreadable by the ordinary man-in-the-street as Anglo-Saxon or modern Chinese is to the ordinary man-in-the-street today.
They will be read and discussed, if at all, by highly trained specialists.

reply to post by LesMisanthrope


Hell, I can't stand it when a two month old thread gets bumped, and historians will dig em up after a thousand years? Message to those historians:

GET A LIFE!