Translations

Essentially a language is only a set of sounds to which the speaker of that language applies meaning. Over the course of time how did certain sounds accumulate meaning over others and develop into a language? It is fascinating. How can two sounds that are so different mean the same thing? When translating, what is lost?

I won’t try and pretend that I have the qualifications of a linguist to talk about how at some point in time this happened or that happened that caused some language to be born. What I do think is interesting that I can at least call attention to is that the number of synonyms and idiomatic phrases can be indicative of what the people of a specific language think as important. For example, the Inuit people in Alaska have over thirty different words for snow. That would make sense. They live in a place where they are surrounded by snow all the time. The snow is a part of their life. Also in the United States, I think that it would be fair to say that people are extremely motivated to be successful in their career. That can be reflected in the number of words that exist in English for money (cash, moolah, dough, bucks, buckaroos, ect…).

This is a big reason as to why it is so challenging to translate from one language to another. Sometimes there just isn’t a word to accurately translate. If it occurs only a couple of times then it might not severely impact the meaning, but the more words that don’t have an accurately translation, the more the original meaning becomes convoluted. Often times in order to garner meaning for a foreign work, you don’t need a translation but instead just need to listen to the words and the tone in which they are spoken, but that’s a post for another time. Therefore, in the spirit of the holiday season, I would like to leave two videos for you in hopes that they can say what I was unable to. They are both the song Silent Night, but the first one is in English while the second one is in its original language, German, and known as Stiller Nacht.

Bacterial Communication

Have you every wondered why we get sick? Maybe not, but the answer is incredible. With so many bacteria within our bodies, it doesn’t seem possible that we would ever get sick because our immune system would go into action. Well, bacteria while small are great communicators.

Bacteria talk to each other. I don’t mean that literally, but they can recognize how many cells around them are the same bacteria and how many cells around them are different bacteria, and all of this is done on the microscopic level. Bacteria accomplish this with a very simple system of two receptors and two molecules.

Every bacterium makes two molecules, one that is specific to that bacteria and one that is a generic molecule produced by all bacteria. These molecules fit into receptors that are embedded within the bacterial membrane, and again, one is specific and another is generic. Now the really cool part happens. Based just upon these two molecules, the bacterium can identify how many bacteria like it are in the same area and how many bacteria that are different are in the same area. Once there are enough bacteria present, then they all act at once (keep in mind though that most bacteria do not cause us to get sick). The pathogenic bacteria know that by themselves they won’t be effective therefore, they accumulate and multiply, almost like preparing for war, and attack simultaneously. If you would like to learn more specifics about cell communication or see graphics to help with your understanding of the process then watch this TED video, and even if you don’t I would still recommend watching the video because it is fascinating.

This concept could be central to the next wave of antibiotics and anti-bacterial drugs. Now many bacteria are becoming resistant to modern drugs because they are commonly designed to cause the bacterium to explode, or interfere with its replication process, but as a result we are causing natural selection to occur and making the bacteria even harder to fight. Therefore, if drugs can be developed to prevent the attacking bacteria from recognizing that there are enough of them to attack by creating molecule that would attack to the specific or generic receptor, then the bacteria won’t be able to count the other bacteria around them and they will stop their attack. The next wave of medicine will be the result of bacterial communication.

Abbrevs.

Twenty, thirty, probably even ten years ago, people were using abbreviations on a limited basis and when it made sense. Doctor was shortened to “Dr.”. Incorporated became known as “Inc.”. We even use abbreviations when writing peoples names: Mr., Mrs., Jr., ect. But these convenient shortenings have been taken to an extreme and have begun to seep into everyday conversation and become a part of our culture.

The two prime examples that I can think of are LOL and the more extreme, “legit” (Laugh Out Loud and legitimate for those of you who are unaware). I find that LOL is used quite frequently in everyday conversation. In my opinion, LOL has replaced the awkward laugh: the one you use when you force yourself to laugh at a joke that just isn’t funny. “Legit” is frustrating for me. It has become so ingrained into our culture, that I find using its elongated form, legitimate, weird. Whenever I use it, it just doesn’t sound right.

But where do these abbreviations originate?

I hold texting and instant messaging (IM) responsible. The both encourage rapid communication and abbreviations only facilitate that. Because we know that texting and instant messaging can be fast, we expect them to be fast, and we become impatient when there isn’t an immediate response. In order to appease our impatience, we developed abbreviations for words and phrases to expedite the process. Here are some of the more commonly used abbreviations.

brb – be right back
2 – to, too, two
ttyl – talk to you later
gtg – got to go
k – okay
omg – oh my god
lol – laugh out loud
rotfl – rolling of the floor laughing
l8r – later
cuz – because
Test your abbreviation literacy by taking a sporcle quiz.

There are plenty of others that are used too. With IM all that these abbreviations did was speedup the process, but that was the point. With texting there was another reason. There is a character limit per page, and phone companies charge per page. Therefore, abbreviations also encouraged saving money. It is really incredible how language adapts to cultural changes. In a sense, this phenomenon reminds me of the book Frindle by Andrew Clements where the main character renames his pen a frindle and eventually enough people start saying it, and frindle becomes a word in the dictionary. The English language has undergone changes to be compatible with the growing use of electronic devices.

Metaphors

We live in a world where everything is defined by metaphors, and they are used to help make sense of the world that we live in. Metaphors are used to make complex ideas easier to understand, and they shape the way we think. Metaphors are necessary in our lives.

Many common metaphors are centered around life. Many idiomatic expressions stem from this metaphor like “playing your cards right” or “it’s the luck of the draw.” There is even an entire board game dedicated to this metaphor. Another common once is thinking of life as a road. The problems that each person faces become known as roadblocks and obstacles that must overcome. This is also frequently seen in poems and most people probably think of the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost with its famous line, “I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” This image of a diverging path is often used in reference to making decisions with each taking you in an entirely different direction.

My favorite metaphors are those about time because I am aware of significant differences in how it is viewed by other cultures. In our culture, time is viewed as being linear. At one end of the line you are born, and at the other end you die. In thinking this way, common metaphors that come to mind are thinking of life as a day, with the sunrise beginning life and the sunset ending it, or life as a year, where life is usually divided into the seasons which each represent a different time in your life. However, these metaphors can also be tweaked to correlate with other, typically more eastern countries like India, where time is thought of as being cyclical. The metaphors of life as a year or a day could be thought of as continually cycles that will always repeat themselves. What is interesting to note is that this metaphor aligns itself with the belief of reincarnation in Hinduism that is common in that area.

Each metaphor that is used is revealing of the culture that uses it. The metaphor of time being cyclic might reveal that that area is strongly influence by Hinduism. So, what do metaphors that we frequently use today tell us about ourselves and the culture we live in?

The Insights of a Child

I read a blog post of one of my friends, and she told an intriguing story about a time when she gave her 7 year-old cousin a dollar because she lost a bet, and her cousin started running around the house screaming “I’m rich! I’m rich!” It made me realize that we have our best communication skills when we are children. Children don’t worry about being politically correct or whether or not what they say is offensive. They tell you exactly what they mean without being tactful. If they don’t like how something tastes they will say, “Yuck,” whereas an adult would say, “I think that it has too much salt.” Why is it that as a human race, as we age we only get worse at communicating.

Maybe that’s exactly the problem: we age. As we get older, it is not socially acceptable to be blunt. With a child, those blunt comments are seen as funny, whereas with an adult it is only seen as rude. As we age, there is an expectation that we will also mature, and as we mature, there is an expectation that those offensive, blunt comments that get to the heart of the problem should no longer be accepted. So then why is it that as we mature, and our vocabulary and processing skills improve that we find it more difficult to say what we want to say?

One of my hypotheses is that we become too concerned with social correctness that we lose the meaning in what we are saying. It’s like writing a good essay. There is a reason that many drafts are required, we don’t get it right the first time. When we talk, it’s like speaking in first draft form. This could be why many people are communicating more frequently with texts and emails. It allows us to formulate the “right” sentence without the awkward moment when the person is standing in front of you waiting for an answer.

Many people, when hearing a criticism, immediately assume that it is only meant to demean what they have done. Often times, criticisms are meant to improve what you’ve already accomplished. We think of the word ‘criticize’ in its pejorative sense too often. It could be this way of thinking that is forcing us to revise our criticisms to the point that it loses its meaning. Instead of using the word ‘bad’ we replace it with ‘developing’ or always make sure to add a ‘but…’ What I mean is that there is always a comment praising another portion of what you’ve done that makes the criticism meant for improvement seem less important. That is why I always tell people who are trying to come up with “the right words” to tell me what they initially thought. From my experience, the watered down version of the truth that occurs from mental revisions only cause more communication issues. Ironic how in trying to come up with the right words to solve a problem, we can often create another one, and the most innocent people in the world, children, are the best at saying what needs to be heard.

The "Information Filter Bubble"

We live in a world where all the information is available to us right at our fingertips. If we want to know something, then we can find it on the Internet: the invention that has revolutionized the way the world communicates. Well…not exactly. Eli Pariser was completely unknown until he discovered recently that the algorithms for search engines, and even social networks like Facebook, are using our past searches and providing us with the results that it thinks that we want, and he discussed it a TED talk. In essence, they are filtering our results for us. He calls it an “information filter bubble”. To see the video, click here.

All that this is doing is causing the global community to become more ignorant to the issues going on in the world. The search engine may identify us by our religion or political beliefs or interests and will tailor the results to fit our interests ignoring the fact that there is another side to each argument. This will only enforce the beliefs that we already have without testing them against other’s counterpoints. For example, two different people could enter ‘food’ into the search bar, and one might get results about great local restaurants that provided ratings and comments while the other might get pages on recipes and ingredients. The differences may be subtle, but they more that you browse the web, the more that the Internet will personalize your results, until eventually, the opposing arguments have disappeared completely from your searches. The Internet in its attempt to broaden knowledge throughout the world has only proved to be detrimental by narrowing the breadth of information to which we have access.

By no means do I want to scare or prevent you from using the Internet, but this is a real problem that exists. We are getting what we want to hear instead of what we need or should hear. I do not know how to solve this problem or I would tell you, but I want to warn you of this “information filter bubble” that surrounds each of us on the Internet. When doing research on the web, be sure to always ask yourself, “Do I have the complete truth?”

Poisonwood Bible

In class at the moment, I am reading The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. It follows the Price family (mother, father, and four daughters) as they move from Georgia to the Congo to convert the natives there to Christianity. But, as in any quality novel, the family faces their fair share of challenges, and many of the issues the Price family faces in terms of their mission could have been minimized had they been willing to communicate with the native people.

Reverend Nathan Price, the father, is the guiltiest on this count. His thoughts are clouded by his faith, and his ego. He refuses to work at all with the local figures and judges them without giving them a chance to defend themselves. For example, Mr. Price often sees the local religious leader drinking, and not acting “proper” in terms of his beliefs, but never once has he held a conversation with the man. Mr. Price might also be more successful if he could grasp his mind around the idea that not every native will want to convert. He assumes that because he is “bringing the word of God” to them that they will willingly change their belief system. He is arrogant to think that he can come into another culture as a foreigner and change everything that he believes is wrong.

Mr. Price is not the only person responsible for the lack of communication. The natives are equally responsible as well. For example, Mr. Price wanted to have a baptism in the river nearby, but many locals weren’t comfortable with that plan, and based upon the portion of the novel that I’ve read, the baptism has yet to happen, but Mr. Price did discover why people were uncomfortable with the location of the baptism, a child had been eaten by a crocodile in that same river recently and people were afraid of it. This information was relayed to him months after he initially voiced his plans. The natives are probably doing this because they had finally ousted the Dutch colonial presence, and were cautious of any person who had white skin because Dutch brutalized the population.

Both Mr. Price, and the natives are guilty of the same crimes: failing to communicate to others and failing to allow others to communicate to them. Communication is a two-way street. You must first be willing to communicate in order to receive anything in return, but at the moment, neither Mr. Price nor the natives is willing to take the first step because neither is interested in learning from each other. And until one does, they will remain in a tension-ridden environment that will displease both parties involved.

The Beginning

Hello. My name is Bill and I am a high school student in the Chicago area. For an English class and International Relations class assignment, I had to create a blog that had an overarching umbrella, or general theme, that I could use to discuss different topics relating ideas discussed in class. The umbrella that I selected was communication, and throughout the year, I will be exploring this idea from various perspectives such as political, social, literary, or international relations viewpoints.

With the world becoming more globalized, there is a greater need for countries to interact with each other, and the effectiveness and functionality of the relationship depends entirely on how each player expresses their interests. This idea can also be examined at a smaller level. Every country has citizens that are a part of it. What that country chooses to share, keep from it citizens and why they choose to share or keep that information secret merits exploration.

From the English lens, I can examine how various characters act towards one another. I find that the best books, movies, or television shows are all those which has taken the time to develop the characters and transform them into real people with unique and authentic personalities. The conflicts that arise because of these clashing personalities are often the result of a lapse in communication, and I would like to examine how that personifies itself.

Another interesting perspective is how we as a society communicate in the modern world. With technology advancing at such a rapid rate, and with the new inventions such as the Internet and cellular phones that have revolutionized interactions between individuals and businesses, communication has been forced to change as well.

I would say that the general encompassing question that I will explore on this blog is: How do we communicate in this modern world? I am excited to begin this intellectual journey, and I hope that you as readers will contribute to my journey by asking questions that intrigue you, and challenging my thoughts.