[ExI] don't bother

[spike at rainier66.com]

> On Behalf Of Will Steinberg via extropy-chat
Subject: Re: [ExI] don't bother

 

>…What's wrong with hieroglyphics?  Chinese is an extreme beautiful and parsimonious language.

 

>…Also, polite forms in Japanese aren't always completely different words, often just a different suffix.  We have lots of polite and impolite forms of words here too: hey, hi, hello.  &c

 

 

Ja, out with all of it in Newspeak I say.  It all becomes just “greetings.”  If subtle shades of meaning are needed, we use the modifier good.  Wave to friend, “good greetings.”  Some jerk bumps your car with his door, instead of HEY it becomes UNGOOD GREETINGS.

 

That sorta thing.

 

Newspeak isn’t great for expressing emotion, writing haiku, getting mama in the mood, any of that.  It would be kind of a universal business language of sorts.

 

Here’s why I am struggling with this concept.  We are in a culture war of sorts and the immigrants among us are most puzzled.  The people across the street came from China when their son was taking his first steps.  Now he has a good college degree, great job, still lives at home by mutual choice.  But there is a definite culture divide in their home, which they deal with effectively.  The parents’ English is passable, but their culture is very Chinese.  The son speaks English without a trace of accent, and speaks some Mandarin (can’t write it.)  He definitely thinks in English.

 

Culturally the parents are very Chinese but their son is American to the core and thinks like Americans do.  This came up once again, with the whole shelter-in-place orders.  My neighbor (the father, who is about my age) told me he was worried about his son.  He thinks he can just go and do whatever he wants.  

 

I was puzzled by the comment, pointing out:  Well, he can.

 

We discussed it and realized something important with his comment: In China, if your mother or the government tells you do something, you better do it.

 

With his comment, I realized he had in a sense equated government to his own mother.  Americans like his son just don’t think that way.

 

spike

 

 

 

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