h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Maybe this entry has been hidden because of not being in GuideML.

They say that the author hasn't returned yet, but Ottox is right here! My guess is that, whatever he does, the entry will not reappear.

I tried to learn some Danish in other places, and the moderators interfered so much that I gave up trying.

And if you look closely, you'll see that Ottox also supports the petition for greater freedom on h2g2.

So my guess is that GuideML is not the problem, but rather that the entry has lots of non-English words.

And on the old h2g2 the entry wouldn't have been hidden even if it was in ordinary HTML or in Mandarin or in Xhosa or in Amharic!

The absolute rock-bottom least that the BBC could do is to allow people to speak other languages here. Do they really think that people will speak in other languages than English for the express purpose of offending people? If they want to offend people they'll probably do it in English. If they speak a common language such as German or French there will be many people to translate it and if it says something offensive it can be hidden after the fact. If it's a really uncommon language, why make a fuss about it, even if it says something offensive? Not many people will be able to understand it, so not many people will even be in a position to be offended.

And really, people, we are in a situation where, around the world, thousands of languages are in danger of dying out.

My own belief is that, to counter this trend, as many people as possible must learn to speak other languages than the ones they were taught when growing up.

I think every person in the world has the ability to learn at least five languages *well*. I mean well enough to write it, to attain a 'literary standard' of writing in it. Correct use of idiom and an informal, natural style. Like I'm writing English right now - except that I know I can become even better. I know that everybody can potentially become at least as good in five different languages as I am right now in the two that I'm good at.

Suppose that everybody in the world could speak English well, PLUS at least four other languages. Suppose everybody in the world not only spoke, but also wrote a lot in all those languages. In my opinion it would then be quite easy to ensure that all of the world's six thousand or so languages are spoken by fairly large and stable groups of speakers, and that all of them have a complex and complete literature to preserve them for future generations even if all their active speakers died out.

In fact I think that people can learn to speak and write more than five languages. I think fifty might be an achievable goal.

Now imagine what an average person could do with a thorough knowledge of fifty different human languages. At the very least such a person would know a heck of a lot about the human world, about history, and also about human nature and psychology.

Also, such a person will not be apathetic towards the world or human society. In fact, an interest in human languages might go very far to move and empower people towards improving the condition of humanity.

This is the kind of thing that could really make a big positive difference today, worldwide.

As a Utopian, I really want to encourage people to learn languages other than their home tongue. I wanted to do this on the internet especially, because the internet makes it so much easier. Computer and communications technology would in fact enable the average person to learn fifty different languages, if the average person would only use this technology optimally, and if the average person should want to do so.

Consider that with a computer, you can have a huge dictionary at your immediate disposal, plus spelling and grammar checkers, plus a thesaurus, and more. You can have the actual pronunciation of words and sentences as sound files, and with a microphone and a sound recording program you can repeat words and phrases, record and play them back to make sure that your pronunciation is correct. And what's even better, with the Internet you can access stuff written in other languages, about any subject that you're interested in, so that you'll already have a base from which to interpret what is written. And you can correspond with people in other countries who speak other languages. This is all made possible by modern technology - our ability to learn other languages is potentially increased more than a thousandfold, if only we should make optimal use of this potential.

Now on the old h2g2 I was under the impression that the Guide could function as an excellent vehicle for empowering people to learn languages.

After all, it is supposed to be a guide about 'Life, the Universe, and Everything'. Note the word 'Everything'. In my humble opinion languages other than English are included in the concept 'Everything'. In fact I think language is one of the most important things in the world, in life. Now if other languages are being excluded in this way, it makes me sad. It is as if these languages are not worth mentioning. Just think back how sad Arthur Dent was when he found out that the only thing the Guide said about Earth was 'harmless', and then later 'mostly harmless'. There's more to be said about Earth than that, there's more to be said about people than that.

The BBC and their toadies may say that they're not excluding other languages. Maybe not, but you are putting them at an extreme disadvantage compared to English. You're interfering so much in their communication that it breaks down completely and users revert to English. So in effect no language other than English can be spoken here. Many people here WOULD like to speak languages other than English. Why don't they count? What makes the people who want to speak English more important than the others? How can you say to me, and to Ottox, and to so many other folks here, that we don't matter? That our opinions aren't worth taking into account?