language
From Donald Knuth “The language in which we express our ideas has a strong influence on our thought processes.”
Amhrán na Leabhar (Song of the Books) - LYRICS + Translation
youtu.be“historically, the English had banned the Irish (Gaelic) language - books in Gaelic were confiscated. Now, Gaelic history and culture is largely oral, so this effectively meant banning everything about the culture. In an attempt to try preserve the language, they loaded this ship with a ton of Gaelic books and old manuscripts filled with all kinds of knowledge. Sort of as their perceived last hope at preserving the language, which is over 2000 years old, but the ship hit a rock not far from shore and sank in full view of the people. So this song is a lament of the loss of all that knowledge and, ultimately, the culture” - Bri
a beautiful passage from sublime’s innaugural zine on why language matters, in the context of building a different web.
The world is built by those who can think, but it is ran by those who can articulate.
The people who get to impose their metaphors on the culture get to define what we consider to be true.
~Lakoff & Johnson
