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/lit/ - Literature

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22476032 No.22476032 [Reply] [Original]

Can you be considered an intellectual if you can only read one language?

>> No.22476047

>>22476032
I thought I was having a stroke before I realized it's just البجعة السوداء written left to right in some alphabetic version of my language.

>> No.22476081

>>22476032
Definitely not

>> No.22476488

>>22476032
Define intellectual

>> No.22476517

>>22476032
Yes. If you actually operate in more than one language when every language on earth can be translated in a moment's notice, you are a certified pseud

>> No.22476790

No. I always find it funny how in the stack/shelf threads you will always find books in English, with rare exceptions. Just goes to show that /lit/ is full to the brim with pseuds

>> No.22476878

Depends on the language and what you're interested in.

>> No.22476907

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px_4TxC2mXU

Learning languages is a pseud trap. It's the epitome of learning the map instead of the territory. The time spent learning Spanish could have been spent learning actual knowledge like differential equations, organic chemistry, dynamic programming, meditation, philosophy, investing, the history of China, etc.

>> No.22476946

>>22476032
No

>> No.22476949

>>22476907
Again, it depends on what you're interested in in. Learning Chinese of some sort should very much improve your ability to study the history of China.

>> No.22476996

>>22476949
Sure if you're doing a PhD and really getting into the weeds on some obscure bureaucrat's mistress embezzling funds in the Tang dynasty. Most of the great works have been translated and LLMs are getting better all the time. Learning languages suffers from markedly diminishing returns in gaining useful knowledge, and is not at all a pre-requisite for being an "intellectual." Being multi-lingual would be valuable if you're Pashtun, or you want to be some kind of liason between foreign groups, but it's still just a means to an end. Once you learn a lingua franca like English you have access to the overwhelming majority of written content be it scientific, philosophical, literary, etc.

>> No.22477029

>>22476032
The successive periods of British and American world hegemony have pretty much insured that virtually all of the elite writings of nearly every other language have been translated into English so you can be an intellectual and only know one language. You will never be cultured unless you know multiple languages though.

>> No.22478188

no

>> No.22478238 [SPOILER] 
File: 23 KB, 267x345, english_Jules.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
22478238

>>22476032
Only if that language is English, the dread and envy of all other (and hence, lesser) languages.

>> No.22478340

>>22476032
This shitskinned boomer faggot and BAP bap the gay jew are obviously shilling themselves here, even if it isn't as hamfisted as gardner.

>> No.22478874

>>22476907
This is a literature board. Learning other languages is useful for exploring literature.

>> No.22478898

>>22476032
matters which language.

>> No.22479601

>>22476907
>learning dynamic programming
maybe you should spend more time on learning some basic terminology instead of posting on 4chan lmao

>> No.22479638

American problem.

>> No.22480078

>>22478874
Exploring foreign literature in its native tongue is not a necessary condition for intellectualism, or even understanding their ideas.

>>22479601
Local minima on the Dunning-Kruger curve.

>>22479638
Belgians are no closer to being intellectual simply because they're forced to learn the languages of more dominant nations.

>> No.22480200

Which type of Arab is Taleb?

>> No.22480217

>>22476907
>learning actual knowledge like differential equations, organic chemistry, dynamic programming, meditation, philosophy, investing
You have to learn highly specialized languages to study all of these things and yes you'd better learn Chinese if you want to be a Chinese history scholar.
OP I hope that answers your question.

>> No.22480250

>>22476032
Learning another languages is like having a foreigners penis in your mouth at all times

>> No.22480303

you should learn multiple languages because it's fun :)

>>22476047
photoshops default arabic font goes backwards and doesn't connect characters, which i think is responsible for a lot of these errors, i see them p frequently

>>22480200
lebanese/greek

>> No.22480310

>>22480200
stfu imbecile

>> No.22480365

>>22477029
*ensured

>> No.22481277

you cannot

>> No.22481307

>>22476032
People that think learning other languages is hard should begin with languages closer to their mother tongue
If you know English, Scots and Dutch become easier. If you know Danish, Swedish and Norwegian are piss easy. If you know a Romance language, any other Romance language becomes easier (except perhaps for French)
>>22476907
Which country are you from?