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Future Proof Ideas since 2005, by Erwin van Lun

The end of written language

in Twists on Apr 28, 2008 20:29
Humans think in images and concepts but not in written language. Very rarely does someone see something literally written in their thoughts. We dream in 'happenings'. Now that the virtual world has come into existence it is possible that in the long term (think 2050) a world will come into existence where 'reading' and 'writing' has evolved into a hobby. Something that people needed to do in the past but that's now just fun to learn, just like making clogs, crocheting or milking cows.

Written language has a large number of functions (wikipedia has more information about language in general, but if you know more I will be pleased to hear it!):

  • information transfer: this is about pure knowledge. The recording of information so that it’s remembered. This is central to academic learning.
  • reference: information available for use when needed. For example, the familiar tables of formulas that are used in schools. You were allowed to take them into exams. It wasn’t necessary to remember the information it was it’s application that was important.
  • pleasure: reading books and comics have this function.
  • single direction communication: communication where no feedback is necessary. For example, traffic signs, adverts and film subtitles.
  • two way communication: written language can ease communication over long distances. Cave paintings were an early form of this, letters and later email and text messages are newer forms.
  • multi-directional communication: since the printing press was invented it’s been possible to mass reproduce written language, this middle is used to send a message to multiple people at the same time.
  • thought organization: by writing it is possible to order thoughts, memories and emotions. Writing a plan, a witness statement, a diary or a film script fall into this category.
  • personal expression: people can express themselves creatively with writing.

A good list, but additions are welcome.  When you analyze the functions of written language it’s interesting to see that the development of the virtual world replaces them all:

  • information transfer: people will soon be able to experience biology, history, geography, cultural forming and much more in the virtual world. They will also receive instructions for certain tasks from a virtual coach who will help them through the medium of the spoken word and will be able to answer all their questions. The coach will also give them suggestions that fit perfectly with their personal experiences and ambitions. Coaching brands stand central.
  • reference: we will soon be able to ask questions in a spoken dialogue. How long does it take to travel to Paris? What is the distance to the moon? Who was the third president of the USA? We will immediately get an answer. Writing is no longer necessary.
  • single direction communication: Navigation is no longer necessary. Our transport will already know the way and if we walk we will receive spoken instructions through an ear piece. Advertising will also disappear, brands will soon be able to come into contact with consumers they may be able to help in much better ways. We don’t need text with films anymore. The actors will automatically speak our language. Not by using synchronization but via lip-sync: Automatic translations with voices that are can’t be differentiated from real voices. Furthermore the actors lips will more flawlessly with the words.
  • two way communication: we speak to one another or, more likely, with our virtual personal assistants who intelligently speak for us. Using our language and in our accent. We speak to speak to others in our own language and what we say is translated (real time) so that it seems to our conversational partner as if we are speaking their language.
  • multi-directional communication: this will soon also apply to images and sound. We are already seeing developments with YouTube but that is still in the very early stages.
  • thought organization: totally new methods for ordering our thoughts are coming into being: we will be able to ‘tap’ our brains, all sorts of interactive screens will be operated by our hands and feet to ‘shape’ our thoughts in totally different ways than we are now used to.
  • personal expression: all sorts of ways of expressing ourselves are developing.
  • pleasure: this will not change.

When closely examined ‘pleasure’ is the only function of written language that survives. I don’t think that in 2050 parents will send their children to school to learn the strange code that is written language. And that only for enjoyment. It will always exist, but its importance will quickly diminish to a minimum in the second part of this century. That is the conclusion I come to. I am interested to hear the reactions!

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Reaction by Nick on 22 May 2008 09:20

In re the information transfer bit: average speaking speed is 100-120 words per minute. Average reading speed is 200-250 words per minute, and can reach 800 words per minute in those who have taught themselves to speed read. I think the difference speaks for itself…

Teaching a subject via oral presentation alone would be extraordinarily inefficient—not only would it take twice as long as presenting data in writing, but information entropy is much higher because a listener is far more apt to miss words or whole sentences due to distraction than a reader (and can’t glance back at something they missed).

Finally, I can’t see real-time automatic translation reaching a high enough standard by 2050 to replace subtitles, or interpreters. Machine translation is one of the most complex problems around at the moment, since a computer needs to understand the idioms of two languages, as well as their different syntactical structures, in order to translate one into the other. (This is why google translations are rubbish, despite the fact that linguists, computer scientists and engineers have been working on the problem for decades.)

(BTW - real-time speech translation is even more difficult than what google translation does because it requires sophisticated computer speech recognition - another unbelievably complex problem, because our pronunciation of words depends on what words lie around them in the sentence.)

So: writing is not going anywhere…

comments

Reaction by Erwin van Lun on 26 May 2008 16:14

Hi Nick,

Thanks for your extensive reactions grin.

Here’s my reply.

First, I’m talking about 2050, 42 years from now. 42 years ago, it was 1966. We were making use of mechaninal typewriters in those days. However, those were the days were the science of information theory started. In those days, the first attemps of ‘pattern recognition’ were done.

In 2008, 42 years later, we are able to recognize voices in videostreams (who is saying what), we are able to recognize faces and smiles of people, even in consumer products, but true understanding of language is still difficult.

The coming decade we will work on computer technology that is able to understand language on the level of a child of about eight years. The decades after, computers will be able to understand language, even better than we do. Better, because computers will be able to understand all language instantenously, and therefore be able to make translations, better than a human being could. Realtime, instantenously.

So it is difficult, but difficulties are out there to be overcome.

comments

Reaction by Sonny on 28 May 2008 17:44

vampire

  vampire

Seeing as how brain function is inextricably tied to cognitive reasoning, the effort to eliminate written language would not only be a waste of time, it would be the basis of an unbelievably perverse and manipulative society (i.e.,an Orweliian “1984”). Structuralism is already used by powerful forces to manipulate billions of people. Imagine a world where that structuralism is taken into the realm of pure thought and peoplee are unable to examine it carefully, it just flows right into their cerebral cortex without some defenses like physicality that can be criticized and….I could go on but you get the point. Verbal or mental expression is the sloppiest, messiest, and mine-field ridden place where idiots are captured and used at will. It is a place the cult leader and political despot loves the most because it is ambiguous, it is a nightmare world.

Even in the fictional Star trek series, when humans interact with the talking computer, pages of text are displayed on the screen. In the 2001 Space Odyssey series (Clarke), the HAL 9000, a “perfect” computer, malfunctioned because of a human error in setting up a fundamental contradiction in it’s prime directives. Eliminating contradictions in human reasoning is not only impossible, it is obtuse to even contemplate.

Written language cannot disappear because specificity is required to clarify these types of contradictions between humans and differences in structure and meaning in human language. “Legalease” is a language that protects us, defines meaning specifically, and requires expert and often interpretive meaning, The Constitution and the Bill of Rights for example, are autographs no less important for maintenance of government and free societies, to lose these would be like losing the Golden Plates or the autographs of biblical Scripture (Mormonism, Christianity). What’s left are imperfect versions, which require textual, historical, linguistic and other forms of criticism which examine the text carefully, without the apparati of texts themselves, this type of science cannot be done or be on-going. Physicality cannot be relegated to “hobby” in many sciences dealing with empirical information, you can extrapolate this to scientific data, DNA coding, even computer themselves are written in language of 1’s and 0’s.

You are suggesting that written language can be replaced by computer technology which itself is based on written language?

Maybe in the world of Alice in Wonderland, or in a Hollywood movie, but in reality, we have 6 billion minds on this planet, are more coming everyday. Just the complexities of disease and disability alone would make this impossible.

Even the desirability of such a thing is questionable.

Granted, information technology today is becoming functionally more inefficient, not more efficient, it seems to me, not because of a lack of the technical, but because of commercial pressure. A new Internet is being contemplated and worked on because the old one is becoming increasingly more difficult to maintain and navigate without continually running into the problem of commerce and having to pay for every piece of information available through this resource.

What you are contemplating may be possible, but in my view Jesus has to return first and set up the Millennial Kingdom first, and the supernatural become integrated in an empirical world. the rolling back of the curse of sin and the ground, I call it.

That’s just a theological angle on this, and for those non-religious out there, I’m saying this could only work in a fantasy world.

Nice thoughts though, very interesting topic.

Here’s a site that discusses problems with language and the brain:

http://www.med.harvard.edu/publications … 5Lang.html

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