Extinct Languages

Discussion in 'Linguistics' started by Orleander, Sep 19, 2007.

  1. peta9 Registered Senior Member

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    This is unbelievable. What kind of morons think whole cultures have no value or right to exist because another has contributed some advancements currently.

    There was a time when china was the most advanced in the world, does that mean everyone should become chinese, all other races eradicated, all other languages and customs as well?

    Stupid, unbelievably self-centered, narrow-minded bigots.
     
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  3. Baron Max Registered Senior Member

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    Huh? Who has been saying anything like that? What the hell are you reading?

    Baron Max
     
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  5. peta9 Registered Senior Member

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    Huh??? Maybe you need to reread your post, like how you were maligning other cultures whole and flat-out.
     
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  7. Baron Max Registered Senior Member

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    But I didn't say any of the things that you accused me of saying!

    ...whole cultures have no value or right to exist .... Didn't say that.

    There was a time when china was the most advanced in the world, does that mean everyone should become chinese, all other races eradicated, all other languages and customs as well? Didn't say that either.

    You're simply mistaken in how you read my posts. Wanna' try again? And this time read what I wrote, not what you think I meant.

    Baron Max
     
  8. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    We have quite a few people here saying "I value no cultures other than my own."

    Really, this is just code for "I believe my culture is superior to all others in every way, and I have no interest in looking outside it to see if there might possibly be something to learn from other cultures."

    The problem with assuming that all cultures other than one's own are inferior is that you potentially retard the development of your own culture by refusing to move with the times.

    Case in point:

    Here, the false assumption is that taking any interest in other cultures necessarily means sacrificing one's own culture - an absurd idea.

    Not all humans are xenophobes.

    And another:

    It seems, madanthonywayne, that you haven't thought through your position, since you contradict yourself. If you think you might learn some things from other cultures then you value then, at least to that extent.

    Your proclamation that you see no value is just empty rhetoric, then.

    Things are seldom that black and white. What happens when cultures collide is usually a blending, with each borrowing from the other. Total assimilation is rare.

    You are mixing up economic prosperity with culture. Nobody wants to be poor, but being poor is not a feature of any "culture".

    Baron Max makes the same mistake:

    He also goes for the old canard:

    The problem here is the assumption that there was no history before Baron Max's own birth. One only has to read a history book to see what other cultures have achieved in the past 1000 years. Obviously, since the US has only existed as an entity since 1776, somebody else must have done something before the US came along.
     
  9. superluminal I am MalcomR Valued Senior Member

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    That's completely logical. You're so smart fraggle. You and sam are also so noble and "cultured" it makes me want to have an emetic episode.

    Really? Or is that just pure self interest in the name of preserving your own. I think it is.

    I can easily see that the preservation of languages and "culture" in general are useless, but the failure of your own imaginations blinds you to this.

    Has anyone answered Barons questions re the inherent value of preserving any of this? I mean, beyond "it's noble and/or interesting"?
     
  10. superluminal I am MalcomR Valued Senior Member

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    10,876
    You are all so blinded by your desperate desire to seem better than you really are.

    I said that there are traits of some cultures that are admirable (how come no one among you points that out) and that there's nothing wrong with adopting those traits.

    And you've nicely set up your strawman above and proceeded to dissemble here:
    And here:
    Extracting the completely wrong "assumption" from my statements. Good job.

    Of course not now. But all of your early human and non-human genetic forebears had this trait, and for a good reason. It still exists - for a good reason.

    Fair enough.

    But to the point:

    If a language (culture) is fading, there is a reason for this. Just as there is a reason that species naturally go extinct. Study what you can of them, but let it go.
     
  11. superluminal I am MalcomR Valued Senior Member

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    10,876
    Exactly. All of the psychotically PC members here love to put words into our mouths to set up scenarios that make them look oh so noble and wonderful. Cowards.
     
  12. madanthonywayne Morning in America Registered Senior Member

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    Jimbo,
    I never said I didn't value other cultures at all, only that Western Civilization is the best. Perhaps you should re-read what you quoted
    And I'm disappointed no one recognized my BORG quote:
    WE ARE THE BORG. PREPARE TO BE ASSIMILATED WE WILL add YOUR biological and technological distinctiveness to our own.
     
  13. superluminal I am MalcomR Valued Senior Member

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    10,876
    I did. The rest are uncultured swine.

    Resistance is futile. They will be assimilated.
     
  14. peta9 Registered Senior Member

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    2,326
    You are a computer, culture is irrevelant.
     
  15. peta9 Registered Senior Member

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    2,326

    um, I didn't put any words in his or anyone's mouth. I just read him correctly through his bullshit.

    lol, I'm not pc at all.
     
  16. peta9 Registered Senior Member

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    2,326
    What I think is amusing is the stupidity and blindness of confusing western culture with industrialization and technology. So it was caucasians that ended up opening pandora's box but skyscrapers, airplanes and washing machines can hardly be termed "culture." LOL.

    These inventions were inevitable however and whoever got there. Really, technology isn't biased because it's not personal. Culture is personal.

    And they talk about 'assimilating' others when their being assimilated by technology themselves. LOL.
     
  17. madanthonywayne Morning in America Registered Senior Member

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    12,461
    I always wondered, in the back of my mind, if the Borg were a metaphore for America spreading its consumerist culture throughout the world while absorbing and obliterating native cultures as it went. Leaving behind nothing but consumerist drones.
     
  18. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    A large Walmart and MacDonalds culture?

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  19. superluminal I am MalcomR Valued Senior Member

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    10,876
    Could be. ST (old and new) was full of that kind of metaphor.
     
  20. superluminal I am MalcomR Valued Senior Member

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    McDonalds food gives me nausea.
     
  21. superluminal I am MalcomR Valued Senior Member

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    10,876
    How did you know?
     
  22. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    I don't know why you only asked that of Sam and not me. That culture also gave us catfish and hush puppies, one of my favorite dinners, and Hank Williams, one of my favorite songwriters. As a libertarian and a Libertarian I am a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment. Beer (good) and racism (evil) are hardly confined to that portion of America.

    NASCAR? Well ya got me there. As a driver and a spectator I have never understood the appeal of races that go around a monotonous oval, with only one mathematically practical route through the turns so no one can pass there, and with all vehicles of roughly equal power so no one can pass in the straightaways either. It seems that the only excitement in American-style motor racing comes when there's a wreck.

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  23. Baron Max Registered Senior Member

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    Ahh, so what you're saying or implying is that you want to pick n' choose from other cultures, not just accept the other cultures! So you don't want to save other cultures, you only want to save the parts that you deem good, and discard the parts that you deem evil. Ahh, got it, Fraggle.

    Baron Max
     

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