Sharkith wrote:Is it best to leave it knowing it is there as a repository of past actions where our society was not sure why it was doing what it was doing? Or from time to time would it be worth using it positively in ways that we can learn to avoid replicating old mistakes?
I am all for remembering the past positively to avoid repeating mistakes. By definition, a code of shame is not positive. Its seems to me that using the word shame says someone should feel shame and guilt. The word we need is learn. The human race has throughout history done some terrible things. I am human, with all its flaws, and in those situations I might have done them too. I don't think of them as the responsibility of any one human culture, they are something we all need to learn from. That isn't ducking out of what my ancestors may or may not have done, its accepting all past actions of humanity as something worth learning from, whether my ancestors did them or fought against them.
And getting back to where this whole ethical debate started, we have over time developed a common form of numerical communication, because trade tends to be to everyone's advantage. Eventually, we may have a global communication language, that everyone learns in addition to their first language. I doubt that can be imposed, it will happen naturally, and will probably be a currently widespread language. If you believe a society is its communications, then you should be in favour of that as bringing people closer to being a global society that hopefully may in a few million years learn to stop fighting each other.
I don't see society as just communication. Sociologists may view it that way since its the easy bit to study, but its like seeing dinosaurs as only made up of bones because those are the bits we have around to look at. Society is a lot more than communication, but I hope that being able to talk and understand each other is a help. I know, thats a fluffy headed view, and maybe entirely wrong, but if it is a good thing then we don't want the past used to be an obstacle to that happening.
Whatever language might be eventually adopted I think it would be a good idea that people who use it as a first language also learn other languages. As someone who uses english as a first language, I find the fact it is so widespread is a bit of an obstacle in learning others. I've had serious go at learning three languages plus the artificial language esperanto. Its easier to get hold of written stuff than to hear people talking. Its probably much easier for a french person to watch films in english for example, than it is for me to watch them in french.
