Scatterism

The purpose of a language is to communicate purpose. It is most commonly used among human beings, until proven otherwise.

I don’t talk to my computer. I don’t intend to until it can butter my morning bread, figure out my coffee mood, and give a better answer than 42.

Everytime I punch in code, I implicitly accept a settlement. I will meet computers half way and use a structured language to communicate my purpose, provided that my fellow human beings are still able to discern my purpose. The clearer the structured language I use, the better aftertaste it leaves.

I couldn’t care less about a computer’s feelings. For all I know, I can improve it to better understand my less structured, more natural language. However, I do care about my fellow human beings, and I’d rather spare their brain muscles.

Sometimes a linguist is better qualified to design a less structured, more natural language. Of course, sometimes, things become so screwed up, that the very same linguist is cursed at. Sometimes it helps knowing a language with a different grammar. But often, none of it matters, as long as you can communicate your purpose to a fellow human being first, and a computer second.

French used to be a dominant language. So was Arabic, and Russian. I speak English most of the time now, and it’s not because English is the trend nowadays, but because it carries my intent and purpose to a wider audience.

Language itself is a vehicle, a protocol, a mechanism. Language in itself is irrelevant.

P.S. Inspired by Matt’s post.