So I was thinking...again...

Jun 07, 2006 17:41

I love learning languages. Language is, along with philosophy, the cornerstone of all existence. Reason being I consider the mind and interpretation as the shaper of reality (I am anti-materialist) and what is the shaper of thought? Language. What is the interpretation of thought? Philosophy. Then you can start working on the stuff beyond.

However, my point is that everyone should learn at least one language to a reasonable degree because people don't all think in the same way. You can attempt to artificially jam some sense of universality when it comes to knowledge or "reason" with science class, sure, but the colour and spirit of life is not here. Nobody generated a culture out of gravity, they did it from everything that isn't science (western science is the great destroyer of culture). Developing language skills is practical, but the shaping and grammar of a language forces you to think outside your little box of security. A lot of people hate that, but then again these people are probably extreme right wing haters of anything that isn't them.

So one girl in my Italian class bemoaned a few grammatical variations of that language. Nothing intense - just a varation between two words that are translated into English as "then". She's not stupid, but you can smell the impatience. It frustrates me that she feels that way. It's probably not that she hates the language, just the intensity of a summer class.

Either way, I enjoy my languages - Italian, Spanish, German and Chinese being my favourites - and I certainly think they help me think in different ways; in turn this is of a huge benefit in philosophy when reading translations from other languages. Thinking in different ways also helps with history, because you approach ideas and tactics and changes with a different view. In fact, the more variation of a theme is better, because historical events are rarely if ever that simple. Sure, be a Marxist and attempt to explain history with one theory, but you'll fail.

Take a language class, it's really not that hard.
Previous post Next post
Up