Universal Language
Universal language refers to the concept of a mode of communication that transcends cultural and linguistic barriers, allowing for mutual understanding among diverse peoples. Mathematics is often proposed as a potential universal language due to its logical structure and consistent principles, which are believed to be applicable regardless of cultural context. Throughout history, humans have relied on mathematical concepts for various practical needs, such as trade, taxation, and construction, highlighting its foundational role in civilization. Despite its universality in describing reality, the process of learning and mastering mathematics can be challenging for many. This has led to debates among scholars regarding the nature of mathematics—whether it is an inherent truth of the universe or a constructed system that reflects human thought.
In addition to mathematics, some researchers have explored the idea of a universal language in the context of music and visual representations, suggesting that these forms may convey meaning beyond words. Philosophers like Gottfried Leibniz have proposed frameworks for a universal language that could simplify complex ideas into understandable symbols. However, the quest for a definitive universal language remains complex, as it intertwines with the inherent ambiguities of human expression and communication. Ultimately, the exploration of universal language reflects a deep-seated desire for connection and understanding among all human cultures.
Universal Language
SUMMARY: Mathematics has been proposed as a universal language; attempts have been made at a mathematics notation that would be recognizable on any planet.
From the beginnings of humanity, people needed to establish connections. Along with speaking, counting developed from the early stages of human evolution. Numbers and counting were necessary in the first civilizations to describe ownership, for trade, or for calculating taxes. Shapes and measures were needed to make furniture, buildings, and ritual places, as well as in landscaping, time-keeping, sky-charts, and calendars. Mathematics is present everywhere in the real world: in science, art, entertainment, business, and leisure. People use mathematics to describe the universe, and mathematics is commonly referred to as the “language of science or the universe.” Albert Einstein questioned:
At this point an enigma presents itself, which in all ages has agitated inquiring minds. How can it be that mathematics, being after all a product of human thought which is independent of experience, is so admirably appropriate to the objects of reality? Is human reason, then, without experience, merely by taking thought, able to fathom the properties of real things?
Some take this idea a step further and view mathematics as a universal or interstellar language or explore the creation of a universal language.
Debate
Those who consider that mathematics is a universal language reason that because mathematics arises naturally and humans possess the ability to be literate in the shared language of mathematics then it must be universal. Others criticize this viewpoint and note that learning mathematics is challenging for many people. Some scientists and mathematicians point to the fact that despite differences between cultures and natural languages, the discoveries in mathematics are the same all over the world because mathematics is so well-suited to describe reality. Discoveries that were simultaneous, like the formulations of calculus by physicist Sir Isaac Newton and mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Leibniz, appear to give even more credence to this viewpoint. However, Newton and Leibniz were able to share ideas and build upon the contributions of the same earlier mathematicians, and they developed different mathematical approaches and terminology. In some examples of simultaneous discoveries, like for mathematicians in the Soviet Union and the United States, the researchers were quite separated. Other philosophers and mathematicians assert that humanity invents mathematics and distorts reality in accepting its postulates.
Physicist Werner Heisenberg’s uncertainty principles seem to give rise to questions about whether anyone can objectively measure or quantify reality. Attempts to model the universe on a quantum and grand scale have led to both calls for and rejection of a theory of everything.
Creating a Universal Language
Scientists, mathematicians, philosophers, and linguists have long contemplated a language that is universal. Linguists explore languages for commonalities, and Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) researchers analyze signals for mathematical patterns. Some visual or graphical representations are also viewed as universal. In De Arte Combinatoria, Leibniz imagined
…a general method in which all truths of the reason would be reduced to a kind of calculation. At the same time this would be a sort of universal language or script… for the symbols and even the words in it would direct the reason… It would be very difficult to form or invent this language or characteristic, but very easy to understand it without any dictionaries.
Leibniz cited earlier attempts at universal languages, such as correspondences that converted words into numbers by physician Johann Becher or scholar Athanasius Kircher. George Dalgarno invented a system for translating numbers into words. In 1678, Leibniz also developed this type of system: 81,374 would be written and pronounced as mubodilefa. For Leibniz, the digits 0–9 became the first nine consonants of the alphabet and powers of 10 were represented using vowels. Leibniz also planned to explore the logical foundations of geometry via a universal language, but he did not continue this work.
Some researchers and musicians believe that music, particularly written music, is a universal language. A 2019 study at Harvard University sought to discover whether music was a cultural universal. They found that music across societies is associated with certain behaviors and that songs that share behavioral functions often have similar musical features. However, there is not a prevailing notion that music is the certain universal language either.
Philosopher Sundar Sarukkai noted that: “The search for ‘universal’ language or ‘pure’ language is part of human history in all civilizations. In part, this reflects an enormous distrust of ambiguity in meaning.” However, he also asserts that, “it is semantic ambiguity that allows individuals and societies to develop and flourish.”
Bibliography
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Parker Waller, P., and C. T. Flood. "Mathematics as a Universal Language: Transcending Cultural Lines." Journal for Multicultural Education, vol. 10, no. 3, 2016, pp. 294-306. Emerald Insight, doi.org/10.1108/JME-01-2016-0004. Accessed 12 Oct. 2024.
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