Question about cultures

[kyeugh]

Here's what I got.

I am by no means that guy who wants world unison and all that jizz. Far from it- I think that the diversity in our world is amazing. As any child has heard, "the world would be really boring if everyone was just like you." I mean, that's a really deep statement if you think about it. If everyone were the same, where would this world be? We would all have the same means of doing things, building things. We're going through a revolution in technology as of now, and why? Because we have lots and lots and lots of different people with great ideas that no one else has and they make them a reality. I suppose I'm getting more into biodiversity than culture preservation, so I'll move on.

How the world is now is fine. Cultures come and go as seen needed. Who the heck speaks that random African language anymore? It's not worth it preserving an entire culture so that we can remember how things were. Gah, I guess I'm not being very clear.

If a culture gets to the point that it is near extinction, then isn't there a reason for it? Should we hold back new concepts and ideas in return for the longevity of old ones whose times are finished?

No.

 

[Music Dragon]

How the world is now is fine. Cultures come and go as seen needed. Who the heck speaks that random African language anymore? It's not worth it preserving an entire culture so that we can remember how things were. Gah, I guess I'm not being very clear.

If a culture gets to the point that it is near extinction, then isn't there a reason for it? Should we hold back new concepts and ideas in return for the longevity of old ones whose times are finished?

No.

"How the world is now is fine" is a very naive statement.

 

[kyeugh]

"How the world is now is fine" is a very naive statement.

I didn't mean everything. I meant in this field. Culture-wise. I didn't mean it's fine that there's big bearded men commanding people to rip down American monuments, if that's what you're getting at.

 

[ultraviolet]

Here's what I got.

I am by no means that guy who wants world unison and all that jizz. Far from it- I think that the diversity in our world is amazing. As any child has heard, "the world would be really boring if everyone was just like you." I mean, that's a really deep statement if you think about it. If everyone were the same, where would this world be? We would all have the same means of doing things, building things. We're going through a revolution in technology as of now, and why? Because we have lots and lots and lots of different people with great ideas that no one else has and they make them a reality. I suppose I'm getting more into biodiversity than culture preservation, so I'll move on.

How the world is now is fine. Cultures come and go as seen needed. Who the heck speaks that random African language anymore? It's not worth it preserving an entire culture so that we can remember how things were. Gah, I guess I'm not being very clear.

If a culture gets to the point that it is near extinction, then isn't there a reason for it? Should we hold back new concepts and ideas in return for the longevity of old ones whose times are finished?

No.

That is very easy for you to say as an English-speaking American. I'm not sure you would enjoy watching your own culture die out around you, right?

I mean 'that random African language' kind of shows how much effort you seem to place on cultures that aren't your own. :o Africa is a continent, not a country.

edit: oh also

If a culture gets to the point that it is near extinction, then isn't there a reason for it?

a lot of the time it's due to colonisation (i.e. usually white europeans travelling to a new place and claiming it for themselves, like Australia or America). Australian's Indigenous population used to have about ~300 different languages (with even more dialects), and now pretty much all of them but a handful are extinct. This is due to the colonisation of Australia by English-speaking settlers not really caring about Indigenous people in general and you know, trying to eradicate or ignore their culture for many years (see also: Terra Nullius). from what I understand of Native American culture it's the same sort of situation but i must admit I'm kind of fuzzy on that.

I mean yes: that is a reason why some cultures do not survive, but your question implies that these cultures would die out anyway or that what has happened was ethical or that it 'should' have happened and that is kind of problematic! Again, you are the english-speaking American majority. It is very easy to say that there is "a reason" for certain cultures going extinct when you have probably never suffered from being part of a marginalized culture and probably 95% of who you talk to speaks the same language.

also what sort of innovation is getting held back because some people want to preserve cultures/languages? o.o i don't see why we can't do both. that doesn't really make any sort of sense to me.

 

[Tarvos]

That is very easy for you to say as an English-speaking American. I'm not sure you would enjoy watching your own culture die out around you, right?

I mean 'that random African language' kind of shows how much effort you seem to place on cultures that aren't your own. :o Africa is a continent, not a country.

Not to mention the fact there are tons of African languages, mostly spoken by native tribes who can hardly communicate with the TRIBE IN THE VILLAGE A FEW MILES AWAY because they speak ANOTHER LANGUAGE.

Not to mention that English (and French) are already the lingua franca for most of sub-Saharan Africa (Arabic is above).

??? Are you saying Mandarin/English/Hindi/Spanish/Russian should have been the language Jews are speaking in Israel? What? Are you serious? None of those languages have any relevance to Judaism. What.

That reminds me; I started learning Hebrew a week ago (finally, ugh). How did the people who reinvented Hebrew decide (I forgot the lad's name) that it would be useful to not write niqqud? I know the Hebrew alphabet (like the Arabic) is not actually an alphabet, but an abjad, but to my knowledge a lot of biblical Hebrew was written with niqqud, or am I wrong? How did you revive Hebrew exactly? I read somewhere that the pronunciation was based on Sephardic standards, but I do know the Ashkenazim added the uvular r (and it ended up replacing the rolled r for the most part).

I am very happy they did though. It's a cool modern language that keeps evolving with its own unique script.

(Though I must add there are plenty of Russians in Israel, and most Israelis speak more than passable English from what I was told).

 

[shy ♡]

That reminds me; I started learning Hebrew a week ago (finally, ugh). How did the people who reinvented Hebrew decide (I forgot the lad's name) that it would be useful to not write niqqud? I know the Hebrew alphabet (like the Arabic) is not actually an alphabet, but an abjad, but to my knowledge a lot of biblical Hebrew was written with niqqud, or am I wrong? How did you revive Hebrew exactly? I read somewhere that the pronunciation was based on Sephardic standards, but I do know the Ashkenazim added the uvular r (and it ended up replacing the rolled r for the most part).

I am very happy they did though. It's a cool modern language that keeps evolving with its own unique script.

(Though I must add there are plenty of Russians in Israel, and most Israelis speak more than passable English from what I was told).

I have no idea how this stuff was decided; it might have been taught in school (maybe if you specialize in language/Hebrew? idk) but as you may know I did not attend school sooooo.

The thing is, niqqud just isn't necessary. It's very helpful when learning the language because you honestly don't know how the words are pronounced, but when you do know the language you already know most words so you don't need niqqud; and the words you don't know you can basically figure out, the same way you can figure out words in English because it just 'makes sense'?? You know?

Also yeah, Israel is a very multilingual place and it's mandatory to learn English in school so you're pretty much guaranteed to be able to speak it with someone, though not necessarily very well.

 

[Tarvos]

Yeah, I know, but I started Hebrew a week ago, so I don't have enough context yet; it took me ages to figure out that it's pronounced "talmid" and not "talamud" or something. Which is why they actually include niqqud in most learners books of course; except in mine, apart from when they want to tell you what a vowel is in a certain word for pronunciation. But of course they neglect doing it a lot. But it's good, I know Hebrew is generally written without the dots (I just never learned to read it). I remember someone telling me the history of how all this came to pass, but it's a long time ago. I had a Jewish ex-girlfriend whose family spoke both Hebrew and Romanian and I picked up a few words in speech, but I cannot write it.

Yeah, most Jews I have met abroad also seem to have this knack for speaking five languages and moving around endlessly. Sounds like it's part of that group's whole cultural history. Sad as it is (that they had to flee every place, basically).