Hacker News Reader

Comment by cliveowen | Hacker News Reader

Again, no counterargument. You're only proving me right.

Ok fine, you've drawn me in.

The main counter argument is that you simply have no right dictate how others communicate, despite your declarations of improved efficiency and increased idea proliferation. I think people who spend tons of money on clothes and other trappings are wasting resources and contributing to unhealthy societal development, yet I do not go around demonizing these people. I kindly share my view to receptive listeners, while also attempting to recognize my own biases and inability to perfectly understand this massively complex world. Do you also go around proselytizing SUV owners for their massive waste of gasoline? Why not?

Lastly, it would be impossible to quantify this, but I wonder how much cultural richness, diversity of thinking, etc we would be losing if all of the sudden everyone was forced to only use English? My bet is that it would not be a trivial loss.

Anyways, I wouldn't be surprised if translation technologies make this discussion completely moot in the next couple decades.

That's not a counterargument, that's just a bunch of hypotheses. Namely: we might lose diversity of thinking, we might get translation technologies in the future, while I presented only facts:

-translations cost a huge amount of money

-a fragmented world slows down the spreading of information

-the most influential pieces of writing are written in English

In addition, if you say "let's get some translators instead of learning English because learning is hard" that's laziness. There's no way around, it's not like I think you're just being lazy, it's just that you are being lazy.

Lazy:

adjective

-unwilling to work or use energy

-characterized by lack of effort or activity

All I got so far are a bunch of downvotes, what I didn't get is an opinionated, fact-based counterargument.

And I'm sad to say it, but I'm frankly disappointed that a community of engineers (for the most part) exhibits this kind of hidebound mindset.

The adjective "lazy" only makes sense as a part of a specified context - there needs to be some agreed upon "work" or "use of energy" that the alleged lazy person is neglecting, or some shared purpose. This conversation is a non-starter because you assume these foreign-language speakers are operating under the same context as you.

It's kind of like if I called you lazy for not going to the store and buying me a case of beer every week. EDIT: OK not exactly, but you get the point... demanding large life changes from others because you claim there is a benefit. This is the epitome of egotistical exuberance.

Since you seem intent on furthering this conversation, here's an honest suggestion for you if you want to truly think about what you are arguing. Extensive academic thought already exists related to the argument you are trying to make -- in short, that it is worth restricting diversity in order to normalize cultures across the globe:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcolonialism

Postcolonialism, and especially postmodernism, are very complex concepts that require a great deal of study to grasp, but it may be worth your while if you want a serious challenge to your argument.

Is anyone here arguing in favor of colonialism? This is equivalent to comparing people who disagree with you to Hitler. Thanks for your "extensive academic thought," which I note you did not even bother to summarize here. I think this thread is over.

P.S. While I do think some of the statements made by cliveowen were insensitive, I also think that teaching people English (or another world language) in addition to their native tounges would help break down barriers between people, and lead to a better world overall.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com