... and we, in turn, visited Amsterdam. Walking around we noted all the differences we saw around us.. no-door Public urinals, coed bathrooms, legalized prostitution and drugs, stop lights before and not after the intersection, language barriers... and I said something along the lines of... "man, I wish they saved us all the trouble and just switched over to English already... it would save so much time, confusion, money, and probably war in the long run.. you know how many wars started from mis or lack of communication?... and the language is probably doomed anyways... they admit it themselves that it's confusing and hard for even them to understand the grammar... less and less people in the world are speaking it to begin with... Why, thousands of people a year are stopping using German and Dutch is like a smaller, step-child version of German... why not just pre-empt the trend?"... ... ...
... well, even though I was only half to half and three quarters serious I hit a nerve... so we full-fledged culturally debated.
Joel said that "it's important to learn and adapt to the culture you're in because you learn so much by doing it. Who are you to be so arrogant that you think everyone should just change for you?
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You would never have an appreciation of snow unless you learned all the 12 different words the Inuit people had for it.
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You would never understand the nuances of love until you realize the different ways it is used in different cultures... Greek has 4 different words for it as most everyone seems to know. But Dutch, for example (I've heard) is not simply the static "I love you.." but the moment by moment "I am loving you.." which carries a lot more weight because it is an action rather than the pathetic and overused word love that can mean anything you want it to mean from a feeling to a thought to an action and thus, until you define it, means nothing.
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Or peace, which in English is used in a negative sense to mean the absence of trouble or hostility is better as... Shalom, which in Hebrew carries a positive connotation (you have to do it yourself)that means to bring into place absolute wholeness - full, harmonious, joyful, flourishing life. Wouldn't the world be different if we had Shalom-keepers instead of peace-keepers?
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And I think a frenchman who (instead of the quick and unthinking please in English or Bitte in German) has to spend all that extra .8 seconds of s'il vous plait could never be completely selfish because who would waste their time with such a long sentence on someone they didn't care about? Well... at least you would have to think about them for that little bit more and hey, it's more time spent not thinking of yourself!
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... ... ..."
And so ya, (ME) "...ok, maybe it's good to learn all the different nuances and, in turn, enhance your view of the world and hence your life. But then I think about the cost of a language barrier and wonder which risk is bigger - the risk of losing a fuller life or the risk of exclusivism, miscommunication, hostility, and war... of losing life itself?..."
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(Joel) "...Okay, but think about another problem in language.. and that is... if, when brought together, it becomes too small... the situation is just as tragic. Yes learning a different language or different words can enhance your life... but a smaller and smaller vocabulary does so much more than a smaller life?
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The more I think about it the more I'm convinced that the language a person uses is a trap to actually limit the way they look at the world. And what if the only words you know were taught to you were in a literature of hate, hostility, and an us vs them mentality then how could it be possible to step outside of it? The book I just finished reading talks about how refugees in the Middle-East were only ever taught one thing... a very strict and intolerant version of the Koran called Wahhabism... and suddenly the only way you will relate to the world is by hostility and fanaticism..."
WINNER?
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