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Three Millennia Ago, Humans May Have Spoken Thousands More Languages Than We Have Today, During a Linguistic 'Golden Age' (www.smithsonianmag.com)

submitted 1 day ago by cm0002@mander.xyz to c/science@mander.xyz

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[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Most people have no idea how many languages and dialects were exterminated as imperialism and nationalism emerged in the last few hundred years. The very concept of a national language that is the same across a broad national territory is novel. And it was created through violence.

[–] LurkingLuddite@piefed.social 6 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

Call me ignorant if you wish, but unifying communication is very much not one of the ills brought about by imperialism. Not to mention, basic economics and technological advancement did A LOT of the work, too. Much like how we now have unified time zones around the world. That wasn't imperialism. That was technical advancement enabling a much broader view for economics (as much as global economics can be unentangled from the imperialism that accelerated it, anyways).

While culture should never be erased, hard lines between now-connected people will dissipate over time.