Bought this collection of Bryant's poems at a thrift store. This book seems to have been published in 1889, and was presented to someone for her birthday on June 30, 1892. The message goes: "Wishing you many happy returns of your birthday!"
It was the late 19th century when there was not many advanced technologies or mass media (including books). I can imagine the people of the time obtained information through books or newspapers. However, information they could receive might have been limited, and they might not have had a television or a radio during this period of time. When I do some simple search on the internet, this information is found: "8XK became KDKA in 1920. KDKA received the first federal license and began broadcasting on November 2, 1920." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_in_the_United_States)
I wondered what it might have been like for this person to receive this book, and what this birthday present had meant to her. I wondered if even this collection of poems might have been important information. I don't know if she even liked it or not. I wonder what it meant in the late 19th century to receive a printed book from someone? It might mean a lot different than now today, where there are so much information through millions of copies of books, magazines, websites, schools, etc.
While reading this book today in 2017, one hundred and 25 years after it was presented to someone for a birthday gift, I imagined a lot of things when these people were still living.
Learning a
new language is not just meant to try getting more communication channels. It is
not even to get more job opportunities. I learn new languages because I want to
become more self-conscious when I speak or write. I am doing so because I want make the
better use of my own languages through such an experience. When you learn a new
language, you may be able to make friends with different types or characters than you had
ever acquainted with. It might be true, and I agree that it is a great experience. But if that was to be the only
goal, then nothing would be left for us when there is a time someday when Artificial Intelligence becomes fully
capable of translating languages through human voices.
Used a marker to draw a view of Kesennuma, Miyagi, Japan (Before the 3.11 tsunami)
マーカーを使って気仙沼の風景を描画 (3.11津波以前)
Language
should mean a lot more to us. Roughly speaking, in my opinion, an application of language
means to clarify the thoughts, and to identify/define who you are in the
society. I am feeling that the former (visualization of thoughts) and the
latter (definition of self) are closely related to each other and, therefore, they always go together.
When I write something, I can understand what I am thinking. I can also
recognize what I don’t understand or what I am not fully convinced of in my head. By
associating with people through languages, I feel I can realize where I am in that
particular group or society, or how I should fit in. And it is commonly believed that, at the present time, we cannot sufficiently
share our thoughts without a language.
To
rephrase this, a language is a tool that allows us to think with, and it is a channel that
helps define who we are as well as where we are.
When we
hear about a foreign language, the first thing that come up to our head might be to think whether it be useful for
us or not. We may probably start asking to ourselves, “Do I get better
job opportunities if I study this language?” “Will it be beneficial to my specialty?” "Do I get new good friends?" or “Will get a chance I can date with a pretty woman?”
Regardless
of whether it be practical or not, learning a new language can also help
strengthen/sophisticate your first or second language. That is another advantage many people may not think so much.
The reason
for saying this is because I hear (and have heard) some people knowingly saying, “You should only learn your first language. Second language will screw your first language.” This makes me stop and think. I have always thought about it ever since when I was a kid. To my young ears, it sounded as though people were disagreed to bilingual individuals including myself. Wouldn't this be an indirect way to look down on someone who speaks or studies different languages? Are they simply jealous? Why then are there English schools everywhere, and people of every educational levels mention English anytime anywhere? I don’t know how much time I spent in my life to think about it. Time flies so quickly. Multiple decades have passed since this time.
"You should only learn your first language. Second language will screw your first language." - The people saying this are likely not good at any other language. And as far as I have observed these people, none of them seems to "truly" know their first language. I might be wrong because this is only based on my own experience. The resource I have got is pretty limited. - I feel I can understand what makes
these people say what they want to say. I personally think what they say is "partly"
true. But not always.
For some reason, this reminds me of people saying different things like these: "There are tons of junkies or violent crimes in America, we should stay away from there, I bet you won't be safe there. Systems don't work effectively, to the point of perfect stupidity. That's a sick country, the United States." or "There are tons of perverts and chikans (gropers) anywhere in Japan especially on the trains, and people just ignore other people in trouble and the police won't be be helpful either, just stay away, you ain't gonna be safe out there. Authorities are ridiculously lame. That's a sick country, Japan."
This is a captured image from the TV program "Yarisugi Toshi Densetsu". No copyright infringement intended.
本画像はTV番組『やりすぎ都市伝説』から取ったものです。著作権侵害の意図はありません。
Back to the topic.
It is
also interesting to know that the same words or statements can be either right or wrong, depending on who says it. When Mr. A says "1 + 1 = 2", people
believe it’s right and nobody disagrees. But the result will be opposite,
if Mr. B says the same thing. And if Mr. C says it, "1 + 1 = 2", opinions are split up into two or more and then people start to argue.
To
extrapolate this a bit further, here is what I think. “The language I'd believed
to be my first language was not the first language actually. The "first language" is an entire set of my first and second (and
even third, fourth, etc.) languages combined.” That is how I understand it when I reflect on my thought about what the first language is.
Suppose, as
an innocent child, you were living happily with your parents, until one day
someone comes up to you saying, “Your mom and dad will split up and go different ways from today, so can you decide which one you want to live with?
You have to choose only one person.”
Unless you have any
very bad memory or experience, we expect all the family members to be together. It doesn't matter how many
family members in your family. If one of them is not present, the rest
of the family would feel “something is missing”. There are no borders among the
languages in your heart. There are no political or economic conflicts going on inside the individual's head.
Waiting for the 10K race to start. My result for this year was 55min 38sec.
People who
support the idea “We only need the first language” often refer to
their experience with “Kikoku-Shijo (帰国子女)”.
In case you don't know who they are, Kikoku-Shijo is a group of people who spent some years outside of Japan because
of their father’s business, and then returned to Japan.
This idea is likely to be molded
among an “average” group of Japanese, where they find fault with one of their classmates who came back from abroad. The “differences”
they noticed from such "returners" are not favorable, unacceptable, or intolerable sometimes. The Japanese kids from abroad may not and act the same way, or think the same way . It's not a question of whether it is good or bad, but Japan is, more or less, a group-oriented society. "Different tastes or feeling" from the common perception can lead to a rejection or disagreement. - None of my family here (including myself) is a Kikoku-Shijo, by the way.
Through my own observation (including on myself), I think a stupid bilingual should still be stupid the same way even if he or she was monolingual. It is likely that a bilingual (or trilingual) person may have different views because of having experienced different cultures.
But that is it. This can be cool. This person may or may not get job opportunities for this attribute. It all depends on the job market situation.
I also have seen many people who were born and lived in Japan all
his or her life, and they had no clue when there is a discussion over
issues on manufacturing or Information Technology. There is no wonder if you are not experienced in any of these fields. Would it be fair to say this to those people? “Are you
sure you are Japanese? We are speaking in Japanese right now.” However, I feel I want to say it to those who don't know or appreciate Sokeki Natsume (夏目漱石), Ogai Mori (森鷗外), Yukio Mishima (三島由紀夫), or Jun’ichiro Tanizaki (谷崎潤一郎) and their literary
works. “Hey, you are proud of being Japanese and all, but don't appreciate any of these…? You can't look down on these
bilingual Kikoku-Shijo fellows, saying they are shallow-minded or they don't know about
the 'real' Japanese mind or culture.”
There are people who are also proud of them while looking down on people from some other countries. But many of these people don’t know much about the Manyo’shu (万葉集), the Tale
of Genji (源氏物語), Kenji
Miyazawa (宮沢賢治), Takuboku
Ishikawa (石川啄木), or Hideyo
Noguchi (野口英世). This makes me feel, “Without the appreciation of these things, what kind of “Japanese-ness” is
there to be left they are proud of?” - What makes them proud will be the registered nationality,
or self-claiming of having lived in Japan all his or her life. That has
nothing to do with the “Japanese mind, culture, or tradition". But after all, this sort
of contradiction or irrationality can be seen anywhere on this planet. - It is kind
of interesting when I think about it.
Imagine
someone who enjoys seeing the cherry blossoms, while remembering the encounters or separations
from some close relationship of long time ago. This person may start thinking about how wonderful it is to see his or her
children grown so big, as well as how the life used to be in his or her old days.
These things are not Japanese invention. (I have just remembered someone saying, "Four seasons are only experienced in Japan".) The cherry
blossom here can be a "variable" in this context or formula. Replace this variable with another, and
the formula can be applied to anywhere else in the world. As a Japanese, we will say “Ah, I am so thankful for being Japanese with all these!” when we are enjoying
eating natto (納豆), white
rice (ご飯), miso
soup (みそ汁), or yellow pickled radish (たくあん). The same thing, however, should be observed anywhere outside the country. There are many delicious foods in Japan. But after having been
through these things, and having come back to home in the U.S., I feel, "Ah, there is nothing like the
food you eat at home with your family or friends here in the U.S." We are a family of multi-cultures here, we eat Japanese, Mexican, and American food.
Look at the beautiful
views outside while driving here in the Midwest, you want to be thankful for being in this place.
Some people start thinking about these things when you get older. I have to admit that I am
approaching my old age day by day. Following are some of the things that make
me feel I got older after having passed 40 or 45 years old.
1) Start
having difficulty in reading books with small characters. It frustrates me when
reading a thing somehow. 2)
Translating from one language to another used to be fun, and I did it quickly
or without difficulty when I was younger. Now I stay away from it, unless it is
the work in my workplace.
3) I was speaking English, while thinking I was speaking Japanese. I was
speaking Japanese, while thinking I was speaking English. I get slightly shocked when I notice it.
4) For some
reason I am studying Esperanto intensely, and fancy that it’d be so cool if this
language really prevails in the world as the principle global language.
I watched this
Japanese TV program the other day, called “Yarisugi Toshi-Densetsu”. I was personally
intrigued by what was being discussed. It was about the A.I. technology. The person
who received an interview was mentioning a Paralympic game.
This is a captured image from the TV program "Yarisugi Toshi Densetsu". No copyright infringement intended.
本画像はTV番組『やりすぎ都市伝説』から取ったものです。著作権侵害の意図はありません。
During the
interview, this person on the show says that, what is called, handicapped
people may demonstrate higher performance than “normal” people in the future. Some
of those people may be able to move an object of 200 kilograms (about 440.9lbs),
while a “normal” person can only move 40 kilograms (about 88.1lbs). It’s not
only about higher scores or results in Paralympic games, but it is also about our
everyday environment in the future. He says a robot hand of nowadays can transcend
the feel of warmth or coldness of the object the person touched. He then continues
that it might be possible in near future that a person with a robot hand can brew
coffee using his own hand. And it keeps upgrading like when a patch program is applied.
These are captured images from the TV program "Yarisugi Toshi Densetsu". No copyright infringement intended. 本画像はTV番組『やりすぎ都市伝説』から取ったものです。著作権侵害の意図はありません。
This story
reminds me of the word “Hybrid” or “Humanoid”. Then I start thinking that,
what is called, “Aliens” might be included in this category. - The "New Types" who appear in the anime "GUNDAM" might also be aliens, hybrids, or humanoids.
From the anime "GUNDAM"
(* I don't own this image. No copyright infringement intended.)
I also
think “Globalization” or “Internet Society” which has already been taking place
might be in the same category. What would my great-grandfather say if he crawls
out of his tomb and start living with me and my family? He would think we are
aliens.
My recent
boom is studying Esperanto thru smartphone app. Esperanto is an artificial
language that was invented back in the 1800’s. It was aimed to be used as a
global language. I heard there was a time this language was popular, but the popularity
declined somewhere between the World War I and the World War II. Now it almost
seems to be unknown, just like Ainu or something.
I am studying Esperanto with this app called Duolingo
There is
one thing I have discovered while studying this unpopular language is that I
feel my spoken words have improved especially in my workplace. I feel I have
come to better communicate with my boss and colleagues. My grammar seems to
have become better. I wonder if the phenomenon is similar to someone who improves
his or her work attitude or productivity by having a family or a child. As far
as the language study goes, this synergistic effect was observed in a short
period of time in my case.
I like
success stories of someone who sang or play the piano in a shopping mall or something, to be uploaded on
YouTube, and then it was widely known to the people in the world.He might be forgotten in a year or two, but
Piko-Taro might be one of them. He is known as the singer/dancer with “Pen-pineapple-apple-pen”.
I don’t get the point of that song, but I like that. I am not sure why.
I asked Siri "Do you know "pen pineapple apple pen"?
Siri's answer was this.
Cool thing
about the Internet is that a great talent that had been hidden in the previous
era can now get a spotlight and be known by the people all over the world. We don’t
think it is special anymore now, but this communication across the borders via
Internet (we are able to do that so easily at home) makes me feel teleportation technology has
become available partially.
This is what Siri said when I asked some question...
Internet
can give significant influences on humans, just like what an amplifier does to an audio player. Unintelligent
or narrow minded people will only seek the path to justify themselves. This adds
to their ignorance and narrow-mindedness through the Internet. People who earnestly
seek opportunities will find them. Those who have will have more, and those who
don’t have will lose what they have. Those who ponder or pray will do that even
more, and those who live on gossip will be more attached to it. This is how the
social polarization takes place and the segregation may become more distinct.
One day, with the
advancement of A.I. technology, we may see a system that outperforms the human
brain. If the “mind” is able to get duplicated/reproduced digitally, we humans have a chance
to live in a virtual environment, where we can even choose and update our appearances, just like an avatar. Full digital treatment on our “mind”
may allow us to travel to (or to inhabit) some other planet.
This is a captured image from the TV program "Yarisugi Toshi Densetsu". No copyright infringement intended.
本画像はTV番組『やりすぎ都市伝説』から取ったものです。著作権侵害の意図はありません。
In the
virtual environment, there are murders and suicides to take place still. This should literally mean a
real “death”. Cyber police or some equivalent system will monitor, control, and
arrest criminals. I can imagine privacy protection would be a very serious
issue. Accidents and criminal cases will be more complicated as long as our technology advances.
Super Surveillance Society.
Our personal information can be retrieved through SNSs, smartphone apps, etc.
These are captured images from the TV program "Yarisugi Toshi Densetsu". No copyright infringement intended. 本画像はTV番組『やりすぎ都市伝説』から取ったものです。著作権侵害の意図はありません。
If we know we are all made up of 0's
and 1's, then we truly understand what the Heart Sutra says. ("[...] form is not different from emptiness, and emptiness is not different from form. Form itself is emptiness, and emptiness itself is form. Sensation, conception, synthesis, and discrimination are also like this.") Or it is at this moment when we realize we are a bunch of shadows in a simulation lab, or a “fabulous opera”
as in Arthur Rimbaud's poem.
Humans and our activities will have been completely translated digitally, after a long way in our history since we started to walk on two feet, began to use tools, words, languages, money, and utilize monetary transactions with credit cards or bit coins.
And still, technology keeps advancing at any moment.
Teleportation
or time-machine might be no fantasy in a few decades. What if we have the technology
that completely scans what we are made of, and then fabricate it at a designated
location where we wish to go? It is the time when Doraemon’s “Dokodemo Door
(To-Anywhere Door)” is in place for real.
From "DORAEMON"
(* I don't own this image. No copyright infringement intended.)
In the TV program,
they say “we can acquire an eternal life” once a perfect digital technology can
be applied to human brains. This made me imagine in my head like this. What if
someone gets himself completely copied into the digital form and gets an
eternal life? His “original” body dies and then goes to the traditional heaven or pure land, so to speak, to discover that
a better technology had already been applied to our forefathers ever since the
beginning of the human history. He opens his eyes so wide to say, “Wow, this is
what heaven is all about!” God, Buddha,
angels, bodhisattvas (or whatever you may call it) sees him to say, “Welcome!
Good job on the earth. But, right here, we have better ones.”
This is a captured image from the TV program "Yarisugi Toshi Densetsu". No copyright infringement intended.
本画像はTV番組『やりすぎ都市伝説』から取ったものです。著作権侵害の意図はありません。
As A.I.
technology advances, a product develops itself to obtain a self or super-self, and it
might have different goal or objectives than humans of today or tomorrow, just
like the workers and owners have different views when working together.
Drew this picture using MS Paint and my index finger...
Some say that
advancement of A.I. to some level will make the current form of humans go
extinct. It can be true. But this also reminds me of smaller scale of ending with
someone or something. If you think
about the fast growing technology, it is likely that humans will also experience
even bigger scale of ending that what we have experienced. It might sometimes be mid-scaled and other times large-scaled.
I drew a view of Kesennuma before the 3.11 tsunami
3.11津波前の気仙沼の風景を描いてみた
For some
reason, I sometimes remember Mr. Yamamura’s speech at Sophia University in July
2011. It was four months after the 3.11 tsunami hit the eastern part of Japan.
I wasn’t at Tohoku where he made his speech, and I only watched it from YouTube.
Mr. Yamamura is a physician who practices medicine in Ofunato city of Iwate
Prefecture, Japan. My birthplace, Kesennuma is a neighboring city from where he
lives. He published the Kesenese (ケセン語) version of the New Testament of
the Bible. It was translation directly from Greek to Kesenese. His house and
hospital were also damaged by the tsunami on March 11, 2011. Throughout his
speech was full of thoughts/insights on what he had learned from tsunami.
According
to Mr. Yamamura, creatures are designed to conserve themselves, where they tend
to produce similar kinds as children. But there are sometimes, what is called, a “defect” to be born,
and many of them are destined to die or be unable to function in the world of
norms. Now, when there is an enormous change in the outer world, the group of
creatures called “defects” may be better suited to the new environment, and
they start to prevail and demonstrate their power. This is how creatures have
evolved themselves, says Mr. Yamamura.
If the
conservative party doesn’t experience such an “unexpected” change through all
time, ameba ends up being ameba. Mr. Yamamura says, “By repeating the process
of evolution through huge changes, a human was created as a result. He then
says that the 3.11 disaster in the Tohoku (North East region) Japan should be "His work of Creation" than a “Disaster”. After all it doesn’t matter when or how we die,
but it is how we live what matters, by using the time each of us are given.
There is
something for us to feel sad or disappointed about, if the A.I. technology
advances and the humans of today go extinct, or they move to outer space to
find new homes. From some higher perspective, it might be good news showing one
form of achievement by humans. From even higher perspective, it might be neither
good nor bad. It might be neither happy nor sad. In such a moment of history,
the “language” might no longer be necessary because it is such an unreliable medium.
This is a captured image from the TV program "Yarisugi Toshi Densetsu". No copyright infringement intended.