[Foundation-l] RfC: Mission & Vision Statements of the Wikimedia Foundation

[Andrew Gray]

On 16/11/06, Erik Moeller <erik at wikimedia.org> wrote:
> On 11/16/06, Gerard Meijssen <gerard.meijssen at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > The idea that humanity can unite under a single language is not
> > > appalling at all to me, rather the opposite. Some people believe this
> > > "world language" to be Esperanto, others might think it can be Chinese
> > > or English, or a new artificial language. But I don't think Wikimedia
> > > should adopt a position that implies humanity should continue to
> > > actively use hundreds or thousands of languages indefinitely. To me,
> > > supporting multilinguality is first and foremost about breaking down
> > > barriers to knowledge, but it's not the only strategy to achieve that.
>
> > With all respect, this is the pov of an engineer. The idea of the world
> > to unite under one language does horrify me.
>
> That's perfectly fine, and we can have a debate about the relative
> merits of our positions. My point, however, is that we should avoid
> phrases like "in their own language", because they transport an
> inherent POV about what the correct strategy is to disseminate
> knowledge. If we can express support for multilinguality in a more
> neutral fashion, I'd be supportive of it -- such as "breaking down
> language barriers".

"Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in
the sum of all knowledge..."

"...regardless of [their] nation, culture or language"?

-- 
- Andrew Gray
  andrew.gray at dunelm.org.uk