Topic: What if we had only one language? (Read 440 times)

It’s because we formed different little groups that shared experiences and ideologies.
Since we had no contact back then with one another, those who are in the same
group usually just had the same mannerisms or way of life which is a lot
different from those other groups from different parts of the world. I think at this point
it’s quite impossible to create one language that is universally accepted and spoken
by everyone.

The reason why God confused the languages at the Tower of Babel was, because people, working together under one language, would ultimately destroy themselves... ultimately fight God so that they would bounce off His almightiness into destruction. God didn't want that. That wasn't why he made people in the first place.

Consider... why are we building rockets to go to the moon and other planets? When you consider how much trouble it is, we might not even be able to do it. But if we can, there isn't any place out there that we know of, that has what we need just to live like the earth does. In fact, we don't really know everything that we need in a planet just to live. So, why are we trying to go? What is the "itch" that people have that makes them want to go to the stars?

If we put as much work into making the earth more habitable as we are into the space program, we could make the earth support a hundred billion. And certainly God would help us do this if we wanted to follow His ways.

Personally, I think that the reason why we feel the thrill of going to space is because that is where Satan is from. And he placed some of that feeling into us by genetically manipulating the forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve ate. Satan is using us to get back into space. The fruit of the Tree if the Knowledge of Good and Evil was Satan's start point to use people to get back to the stars... where he was kicked out of in the war with Michael the Archangel. We are pawns of the Devil.

The Tower of Babel was a way the people of that time were trying to get to the stars.

The title is so funny but however I believe that world would have been better place than what we have today, the world was operating in one language before  the rebellious act of building the tower of Babel, the effect of the different languages is one of the reasons why there tribalism  and certain level of favoritism, though their is no quarantee of having total peace and unity because even some families are in shambles of war among themselve.

This is very funny thinking though you are trying to make a point but let's leave the impossibility, God knows why he did it so, it is not possible to have one language here, he knows that the world will turn it into something else, the will use it to perpetrate evil,
When the world unite it might not be for good but for bad, so to me I will say that we should allow somethings to just be because their explanation may lead to things that are extra ordinary. This life has many untold secret we never can tell if the language stuff is one of them.

Peace is not based on language that is why we still see the same ethnic group having problems with themselves..
We do see the same family brothers fighting themselves just of little disagreement. Speaking the same language does not change anything that is why we need to know what we are doing and try to embrace peace without any worries.
Thins are happening I'm the world and there is need to us to understand the problem and why we are having problems with other people around us.

I don't think there would be more unity and less problems around the world if there was only one language.  I don't think language has much of an impact here.  Everyone is expressing his own attitude and emotions in his own language.  Moreover, English is the international language throughout the world.  One can express their opinion in English if they want.  I can't find the right logic that world peace will be established through the same language.  A spirit of sympathy and co-operation between one nation and another can create unity and solve problems in the world.

Peace and unity is something that even a brotherhood can not attained with guarantee talk more of a nonsignificant large entities where a unified language would be a solution to disputes and disunity.
Unification doesn't bring unity nor peace to the societies. What brings about peace is a personal self conducts to lawful abiding citizens and individuals with humanitarian heartedness.
Op, there in your home and localities where you exercises with one language spoken, I can bet it that there's is no peace and unity to a 100% degree therein. This is just something to say that one bad mind can corrupt multitudes of kinded minds if the evil mind is associated with the good ones. So to keep peace and unity up rolling into eh society disciplinary in am equality measures should be observed. Hence you can't eliminate sentimental at all rounds figures rather it can only be managed and distabilized on a depreciative figure.
Basically one language generally for all can't do it all rather it would only bring about familiarities.

Easier communication isn't necessarily a positive thing by definition. Globalisation has brought many good things to humanity, but also not so good ones, and speaking the same language could increase the tension between great world powers. While in China, Russia and USA/Europe speak their own languages and live in their own bubbles, the world is more peaceful than if we all spoke the same. Even the search engines are different. In fact, geopolitical problems usually arise when their political leaders meet to talk and don't share the same point of view.

Little by little these bubbles are getting more blurred, but as long as different ideologies remain primarily in separated territories, the balance is easier to maintain. My two cents.

it was one language from the days of old and God split it into different languages.the people where up to something by they want to see God which not possible at all.athough if it happened now it will Good we human.because everybody will each other as a brother or sister.it will never happen again at all, god has never go back to what he forbidden.

It'd not like God doesn't like the world to have one language but  just look at what human was doing with one language trying to reach the hevens and the kind of sin that was in the land during those times of nimrod.

Anyway having one language would really bring peace to the world cause all the wars and sentiment the world is having is an issue of race and language, the English man doesn't see the French man as his brother and therefore they would fight each other, so if the world had one language there would surely be peace.

What if we had only one language?


Note that, that was what the world was like at the Tower of Babel times. God didn't like it that way. So, He confused the languages so that we have so many languages nowadays.

As computers make it easier and easier to translate, and as the world goes into the mode of having like-one-language through computers... well, looks like Jesus will be returning, because God still doesn't like the one language thing.

However, it's quite interesting to look at the reason why God doesn't like it. It's written in the Bible in the history of the Tower of Babel.

Well, I believe that having only one language will make communication easier. There will be no requirement for interpretation or translation, and people will be able to understand each other better. This could result with higher commerce, teamwork, and creativity. However, other scholars of language think that having a single language will reduce imagination and creative thinking. They think that language variability enables the emergence of new ideas and conceptions. This could encourage peace. However, speaking one language would result in a loss of ethnicity and variation, which I do not think would be enjoyable, and there would be no need to travel because everyone speaks the same language.

Basically I don't see language as subject of peace or unity. let's buttress from the aspect of one country speaking one language like France which speaks french and has no other languages, can we say there is peace in France as country? of course no. they have different cases going based on 1 or 2 difference either from politics or from resources management etc.
Human are made in a way that every individual thinks in his or her own way which makes different actions to take place and this actions being opposed by the opposite thinker leads to conflict or crisis which means even if they are brothers from the same mother there is no guarantee for peace.

mind you peace is a subjective reality, it varies what you might be seeing as peace may not be peace in my own view so peace can not be determined by language.

What if is an imaginative statement; the truth is that the chance of having one language is narrow or does not exist. Language brings about relationships, but the thought of man can be different; that is where peace and unity come in. I think the reason we have so much language is because of the trust issue, which emanates from the thought of man.

Here is my conclusion about language bringing about peace and unity: if the whole world has one language, peace and unity only come and stay when the thoughts of men are the same. Although language can aid both, though and honesty will make it possible.

Comon language is not a guarantee for peace, human beings are insatiable and greedy. Have u not heard and seen cases where a brother kills his brother due to greed, or son kill his father. If human can kill his blood then what is language. Argument and dispute can never stop.

Speaking in one language will cause a lot of problems every country has a different culture. If the culture is different the speaking style is different. When we speak we use words in such a way that one develops a deep friendship with the other. Every country wants to keep their own language if it is the same then conflict will be created between all.

I don't think so. because In respective of different languages we have, we still have a general language English. Even if it's an England language. But I think many country has adopted it but there is still conflict in the world. The war that happens between different countries was not a language problem. For example the war between Russian and Ukraine wasn't because of language barrier.

Speaking only one language might actually Unite people And might also Bring about National integration
But the problem is that the World is made up of different continent , different cultures , ethnic groups , religion and all that. No country will like To forfeit her culture or language for any other country even they are been colonized By the same country yet they still Respect their tradition and ethnic believes .

Looking At the World in general there some countries with different states and differnt languages as well as cultural differences and each State has different tribes that also speak differnt languages, So speaking only one language in the World will be more or less diffcult To accomplish .

I don't think that speaking one language will make any difference with the way things are currently. It will be very easy to understand each other in any country or place that you find yourself, but this doesn't mean that evil people will not still exist because since the beginning of the world the devil has been there to poison humans mind to do evil due to greed.

War will be existing because even inside the same country that are speaking the same language people fights and commit so many atrocities. We are in a world that power must be exercised and the weak will be oppressed,this is human nature for you.

I'm also curious about what could be the result of this because, with this kind of scenario, we could go wherever we want in the world and talk to the people in any country and easily learn about their cultures, traditions, and histories. But this is not as easy as we think because one of the tactics of the nations who want to conquer others is to wipe out their language just like what the Westerners doing to the Arabs. No one knows how to speak Native Arabic in their country except the teachers and their students. the common folks and the laymen are speaking Modern Arabic which has some words from French, English, etc. Therefore, you can see that Russia and China are preserving their language no matter how much English popularity has gained in the world.

Having just one language does not mean that the world would be peaceful. That is why archeologist would be telling us different things on how everyone tend to be speaking just one language. Language is something that bring people together and they could come up with something unrealistic about the world been something else before now. One of the things that would lookm odd if the world have single language is war and conflict. This would not stop the one language speaking people.

If everybody in the world speaks one language, this will not guarantee peace in the world, because families and countries that speaks the same language still have hatred and clashes. So there's not point believing that one language will erase conflicts or wars, because love and  hated, peace and war are parts of the human DNA. The main thing that one language can achieve is easy communication, other than that we all have different temperaments, even in a family.

As for the explanation of scientific reason for different languages, it might be as a result of migration, and tribes will be changing intonations as they go farther. But from a Christian religious believe, different languages came about when people tried to build a tower that'll reach the heaven, God, had to give them different languages to spoil there plans.

That is not possible because everyone has different beliefs and wants to be unique in their own way. So embracing one religion will be impossible, even in the future.


It would not have brought peace and unity, but it would have improve them significantly from where they are now. Sharing the same beliefs and culture is supposed to foster peace and unity amongst us, but those same people are often the greatest enemies of each other, causing more harm than good to each other.


I don’t think there’s a scientific explanation to this, it is just nature and nature cannot be changed or reversed.

The real point really has little to do with different languages. What it has to do with is the mindset of the nations that us a particular language.

For example, English speaking people have a different mindset than Spanish speaking people. Their languages both, influence the people, and are a product of the way the people think.

Another example: In the US, few people speak in the language of the Beatniks of the US 1950s. While one might call it a dialect of English, it really is its own language in ways.

A language is the identity of a group or nation of people who use it. And the languages are continually changing in their own right... as new people are born and find that their language doesn't really satisfy their personal ideals.

In point: Because the languages of Russia and the Ukraine are so similar, the war is really a civil war.

Well, you call it an opportunity to learn a language and such, but in reality, many people do not see the process of learning a language as something to delight or enjoy but rather as an obstacle to talk to their friends or even emigrate to different countries. Though, I cannot deny there is some social and cultural feeling of belonging linked to the language one speaks... It makes me wonder if suddenly we all talked the same language all around the world, it would translate to a loss of cultural heritage or value in our respective countries or we would continue the same way as we had.

Obviously, if we all talked German, Germany would have a cultural advantage over the rest of us, so would any land where the new universal language would be from.

Having one language does not in anyway change the nature of humans. Even with one language and similar belief, people are still bound to disagree over more complex and even minor issues that have no linking with language.  countries still experience internal conflicts/wars even with the similarities they share. So, language is obviously not the problem but the human mind and their activities. Humans are social beings and domineering. Man will always want to conquer his environment and in the process of doing this, conflicts will arise irrespective of the similarities in language. As long as man co-exist with other humans and remain a social being, conflicts will always arise.

I think we are better left in this way we are having diversity in language spoken and yet the people are leaving together with the common sense of belonging, we can also see it as a means to having privacy when you're making communication in some situations that you don't have to loud it out to the community or people around you, the other beauty of it is that we have the opportunity of learning any other language of our choice if we so wish to.

One language can be possible language diversification begins from the adams and it's a part story of the world creation when they were  building a tower of babel and I quote

This was the main reason for having multiple language to break means of communication in order to limits them from construction.

Even if we only have one language, what you say peace will not happen because there are greedy people. People will never lose this habit, they like to conquer other countries, they like to explore and do something new. Even Mars is already being developed even though it is so far away that it has still been able to be visited for people to explore. There are people who cannot be content, so for me peace is impossible.

^^^ Actually, one language in the whole world would make it easier for the big crooks to subvert the whole world. Why? They wouldn't have to fight with learning all the languages to do it.

If we had only one language then the world would have been very boring because there would be peace all over the world and there won't be language barrier. Although it is uncertain whether war would cease fore but the world would not be as sweet as what we are seeing now. One language could be easy to communicate everyone but one would not be able to keep secret and live a secluded lifestyle.
The way the world look like now is better than having one language just like we are about to have one currency.

Binary is simply a stepping stone to the more complex methods of computing. Actually, Quantum is a better step, and the organic nervous systems of people is the ultimate that leaves binary and Quantum in the dust.

Why isn't it binary, the language that's been around for hundreds of years and used by pretty much every system in the world today.

Even within a family and between siblings, there is bound to be some banter.
Banter isn’t an attribute of language but more of a human nature sort of thing. It often arise out of misunderstandings or having things taken out of context. So long as there is a possibility that one could feel his or her right is being downplayed, there could always be conflict situations within two individuals or groups of persons.
Language doesn’t take this away from a people, it’s just human nature having manifest in itself.

I think it would have been so boring having one language,   people learn different languages for fun. Listen to different languages looks very interesting with you even understand the language. I think nature choose this different language for Man and as far as we have different cultures I don't think language can be one. The language we speak represents our culture and tells where we are coming from  one language would have Been possible if culture was just only one.

many problems occur because of misunderstanding of language, even in one language there are many misunderstandings, not a few wars occur because they don't understand each other, many negotiations also fail because of language, I think if we had one language it would be easier.

Agreed, it is never going to be the same all over the place even if we have only one language left to use.

I wonder why OP thought that one language is gonna be a solution for war and make peace and unity?

Did he see any movies based on that idea recently?

Yet there are as many dialects as there are people, because nobody means exactly the same thing as anybody else that uses the same language. So, the idea of the same language for all is a judgmental idea that can, really, never happen.

Is it?

How many languages were formed in the last 10 years?

The language decreases over time and it happens because the native speakers adopt to a different language for survival like how English captured most of the places but only few manage to keep their native above English and also adopts English better.

^^^ But the world is rapidly getting one language. It isn't the language of one of the nations. Rather it is the super-language of combining all the computer languages into one between computers of the whole world.

Having one language is not something that is possible. Languages keep increasing everyday as new ones are being discovered on a yearly basis.

Speaking one language generally won’t bring about peace and unity. Peace and unity is something within the heart of a man, having humanity. Even within countries that share the same language, peace does not still exist. So this is not something that can be achieved by using one language globally.

There’s no scientific explanation to it, it happens and so we came to see it existed. Different culture brought about different ways of speaking and understanding.

It will not change anything at all, let's give you a better example the USA is an English-speaking nation where both white and coloured speak English as their native so why does racism still exist?

I fully agree that the absence of peace and unity in the world is largely due to conflicts arising from power struggles, and language is only one of many factors contributing to this problem. While a common language can facilitate communication, understanding and cooperation, it is not a panacea for solving the world's problems. Indeed, language diversity reflects global culture and protecting and respecting linguistic diversity is crucial for mutual understanding and unity. Each language carries with it a unique heritage, knowledge and identity, which can serve as a bridge to connect and enrich our global community. Therefore, while language plays a role in shaping our world, achieving peace and unity requires addressing a complex array of social, political, economic and cultural factors.

Actually, I don't think that language is a problem of conflict in the world, see it as a tool to bring people together, and language differences are not a challenge for people to become peaceful.

The main factor causing conflict is opposing views, stubbornness becomes conflict and causes unwanted things.

If you think scientists need to use a single language, understand that scientific interpretation does not depend only on conventional theories, its logic is always conveyed so the recipient can understand it.

So if we want more peace, it's not about unifying the language, we need to change human morality first, eliminating greed - hatred - selfishness - confusion - doubt. I believe we will naturally find that peace.

We practically do and it's English, there always seemed to be a language for trade, it used to be a version of Greek in the past and now it's English.

Well, that's just not possible. Even people with same language family varies them with different dialects over time.

Is this a serious question? Because there are different cultures and because people didn't used to travel as much. Language reflects different cultures, and people find different words for different things. When these groups of people live in isolation, they form slightly different dialekt from neighbourg settlements and further you go, further apart the languages are. If there's an ocean between them, or any other hard to travel thing seperating them, they can be totally different.

In my opinion if the world speaks one language it will be inappropriate, talking about peace and unity, peace and unity has nothing to do with language, tribe and culture even people from the same tribe who speaks the same language still have disunity and agruement so having one language will even promote disagreement and it will be very difficult to handle.
Your last question got me wondering, what really happened how did the world have different languages and culture and the interesting fact is if every tribe with different languages come together and learn how to love each other it will be perfect.

It would be impossible because people live so far from each other that they'd eventually form dialects and then unattached languages.
You should read about the evolution of languages and that would answer a lot of your questions. Language is just a part of the whole culture and it's not one thing that makes people feel related to each other and allows them to find common ground. If that was a thing there would never be a single civil war.


Tell that to Russians and Ukrainians. Their languages are almost the same and they were even one country for a time.


In short, distance. Language evolved simultaneously in many parts of the world when there was no way to travel that far. Getting from South Africa to Central Europe would take you years, so people stayed in one place their whole lives and had to communicate somehow. They begun to name basic items, sun, earth, forest, and these things evolved from simple sounds into more complex words, as we became smarter.

If everyone spoke the same language, there would be peace in the world

Geographical division into continents and state lines

The language confusion at the time of the Tower of Babel was the best thing that could have happened. Here's why.

When God created man - Adam - God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Man became a living soul.

In other words, mankind has the Spirit of God living within himself. This means that man can 'create' all kinds of things. And we see it in the art and the sciences that man has developed.

The problem with man is the lack of experience as well as the corruption that was done by the wicked, fallen angel, Satan. Such lack of experience and corruption would have destroyed mankind if we had been allowed to expand without limit. Why? Because the corruption has to do with destruction, and if God or man becomes corrupt in a limitless way, it ultimately means self-destruction.

God confused the languages at Babel because He wanted to slow the advancement of mankind down, so that man wouldn't create the self-destruction of the race of man and the whole world. Creating mankind just to have the creation self-destroyed wasn't God's idea at all. So, he confused the language so that the people couldn't work together to destroy the race of mankind through corrupt advancement.

But people die all the time. How is there NOT destruction when they are all destroyed in death? God sent His son, Jesus, into the world to take the punishment of destruction for all people. God raised Jesus from death after Jesus had died in the punishment - on the cross. Since Jesus has been raised from death by God, He can no longer die. He is like God (not corruption), and being God's Son, really is God. Now, everyone who believes in Jesus for life, will receive from God the eternal life that God had in mind for all people at the Beginning.

Since the world is getting together again, in communications, and the learning of the various languages of the various nations - and especially through the computerization of language that is coming about today - and since the corruption hasn't been removed, you can expect that God will, again, shortly make a new 'confusion of the languages' so to speak. This time things will be done by the return of Jesus to straighten out the corruption in the hearts and souls of all people who are willing to be straightened out. The others will be destroyed. It will have to be this way, because God isn't going to put up with everlasting corruption.

According to the Christianity practice, it was believed that there was only one spoken language before men begin to make plans on building a tower to reach the topmost height and then their language was scattered in other for them to misunderstood each other, having a single language all over the world could have been the best idea to safe humanity and it's unity, maybe their wouldn't have been diversity in language, colour or race, men may not have hatred over each other as well.

I have thought of the learnings that I've learned about this in the bible, they have explanations for this but I am not forcing people to believe in it. I just remember it since it's about one language and how it spread into many languages. So first of all, I know that many are atheists here but I just find it interesting that there's also this subject in the bible.

First about the one language: Genesis 11:1 says that we've got one language in the whole world before. And then the spread of the language happened because of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:8-9). I did my research and saw some good points about those people who are saying that the Tower of Babel is just a myth. I've read some explanations on it in quora and that's also intriguing and interesting to me. You see, I'm learning both sides of believers and non-believers.

And as we go about having one language, I don't think that we'll still be in peace and unity with that. Because it's determined that there will be people that's assigned and born to do bad and good. And that's like having one religion in theory to make a peaceful world.

If the world had only one language it could potentially promote better communication & understanding among nations. Achieving peace & unity solely through a common language is complex as linguistic diversity is deeply rooted in culture and identity. The scientific explanation for different languages lies in the historical & cultural development of communities. Language evolves through social interactions, geographical isolation & cultural influences. Factors such as migration, colonization & trade also contribute to linguistic diversity.

It’s quite impossible to even imagine this

different parts of the world developed differently over time languages are a reflection of culture and i don’t think culture is something that could be grouped into one mainly because of geographical location for example tropical countries might not have a word for hailstorms because they never experience it therefore they have no use for a word like that

There will be no peace because war is part of human nature. There were always someone who want more than they need.

Well. I don't think talking only one language would solve all cultural problems and conflicts we currently have, but it may certainly help to improve them, after all, it is easier to feel empathy by someone who is closer to us and speaks the same way we do.
Currently the world has been moving towards adopting the English language as auxiliary language, so in the future it may be even more common to listen all people around speaking it and being proefficient enough to talk to natives at anytime.

Though, it is true many countries would rather not to go through it, Germany and Japan are two examples of societies where they value their language very much.

Lots of cultures don’t want to be the ones to give up their native language. How would you propose that the one true human language is chosen? More likely, over time AI will improve to the point that it will be able to translate languages on the fly and an implant will allow you to hear any language in your native tongue. Not as far off as you’d think….

So I have been wondering what if we had only one language?

What if all the countries of the world speaks just one language, would it have brought peace and unity in the world?

What's even the scientific explanation to the different languages we have in the world?