• Pelicanen
    link
    fedilink
    6
    edit-2
    10 months ago

    The thing is, we can’t exactly go by history since we’ve never been as interconnected as we are now. Intercontinental travel could potentially be seen as “just” a huge step up in transportation compared to the past but the internet has fundamentally changed how we communicate. When it comes to technology and science, English is the de facto standard and it’s gonna take something pretty huge to disrupt that.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      310 months ago

      Disruptions are in the near future. Energy systems are changing, climate change is going to wreck things, wannabe dictators starting wars and others. Usually one of those isn’t a problem but a lot of those at the same time wrecked past civilizations. But you can’t predict how it’ll all turn out.

      • Pelicanen
        link
        fedilink
        110 months ago

        Yes, but the prerequisite is kind of that they will wreck the west (which is the main region keeping English as the lingua franca) but not the other regions when the west is likely going to be less impacted by a lot of issues than other parts of the world, for example just due to geography.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        210 months ago

        The key difference is that 200 years ago they couldn’t easily instantly speak to someone across the globe. And, they didn’t get news quickly when something happened halfway across the world.