I found that my initial instinct for not wanting to learn another language (I took Latin not to read it per se, but rather to master entomology, where it has served me well) was for a different reason at heart than just not wanting to emotionally. I intentionally took a b.s. degree in order to not have a language requirement.
It isn't because I'm not a fan of other languages. It is that as a software developer, I need that skill for a different purpose. The ability to "think" in another language is true mastery, and I needed that ability to "think" in code, whatever code it is I happen to be using. When doing a J2EE project (at my last job) I was literally having to think in 12 different languages (no, I'm not kidding nor exaggerating). Mastering coding to that degree required that all of the mental resources required for language learning be dedicated solely to that purpose. The day I can't is the day I get fired, permanently, and replaced by 2 college kids who can.
It is like this with most of the sciences - the specialized language that scientists need to talk to each other, be it biology/medical, pharmaceuticals, psychology/psychiatry, chemistry, quantum physics, thermodynamics - you really are already speaking a different language, a living language that is constantly adding words to it that you HAVE to master, and instantly. The mental resources needed to learning a new language are constantly being taken up by having to keep adapting the specialist language and vocabulary (including the mathematics, which is also to us another language to learn, and another language that is constantly being added to).
It isn't because I'm not a fan of other languages. It is that as a software developer, I need that skill for a different purpose. The ability to "think" in another language is true mastery, and I needed that ability to "think" in code, whatever code it is I happen to be using. When doing a J2EE project (at my last job) I was literally having to think in 12 different languages (no, I'm not kidding nor exaggerating). Mastering coding to that degree required that all of the mental resources required for language learning be dedicated solely to that purpose. The day I can't is the day I get fired, permanently, and replaced by 2 college kids who can.
It is like this with most of the sciences - the specialized language that scientists need to talk to each other, be it biology/medical, pharmaceuticals, psychology/psychiatry, chemistry, quantum physics, thermodynamics - you really are already speaking a different language, a living language that is constantly adding words to it that you HAVE to master, and instantly. The mental resources needed to learning a new language are constantly being taken up by having to keep adapting the specialist language and vocabulary (including the mathematics, which is also to us another language to learn, and another language that is constantly being added to).
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