![]() GORDIN: The thing that really resonates with me about the story is this sense that common language can produce common purpose, and an absence of a common language can confound that common purpose. SCHOR: We use language to communicate, but we cannot rely on it to make ourselves understood. WEBER: This is both the blessing and the burden: the large number of languages and different societies dealt with it in different ways. ![]() SCHOR: The curse of Babel is an existential condition in which we live every day. McWHORTER: It is a very rich story because it depicts the multiplicity of languages as a scourge. SCHOR: God’s revenge on the builders of Babel was to blunt our capacity to make ourselves understood and to understand. We’re beginning to think they might want to fight us, and we can’t even have a conversation.” McWHORTER: They were thinking, “We can’t communicate with the people over the mountains. GORDIN: “That way they will not be able to communicate with each other and accomplish this joint task.” John McWHORTER: That was a tale created by people for whom different languages were a problem. So I’m going to go down and confound all of their languages.” Michael GORDIN: And God looks down on this and says, “If they can do that, there’s no stopping them from whatever else they can do. SCHOR: So, the project was to build a tower, and I’m quoting, “whose top may reach to heaven, and let us make a name lest we be scattered abroad on the face of the whole earth.” SCHOR: … and it comes down to us as a myth about the origin of linguistic difference. Shlomo WEBER: Whether it happened or not, it’s not for me to judge … It almost makes you wonder if we’re working through some ancient curse …Įsther SCHOR: Well, the story of the Tower of Babel is told in the eleventh chapter of Genesis … But after all these millennia on Earth 1.0, we haven’t perfected it. It’s one of the most defining acts of being human, and among the most important. Maria Luisa MACIEIRA : Désolée, je ne comprends pas ce que vous dites. Katie HARRELL : Ampura, titiang tenten midep. Rendell de KORT : Mi ta sorry, mi no ta compronde kiko bo ta bisando.Įmília V Á MOS : Sajnálom, nem értem, amit mond. Ria V IDAL : Pasensya na, pero hindi ko naiintindihan ang sinasabi mo.ĭaria JANSSEN : Sorry, ik begrijp niet wat je zegt.ĭayana MUSTAK : Mintak maaf, saya tak faham awak cakap apa. James COOK : I’m sorry, I don’t understand.Īnisa SILVIANA : Saya tidak paham yang kamu katakan.Ĭhristoph PARSTORFER : Tut mir leid, ich verstehe dich nicht.
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