From nobody@digitalkingdom.org Wed Nov 08 08:29:31 2006 Received: with ECARTIS (v1.0.0; list lojban-list); Wed, 08 Nov 2006 08:29:32 -0800 (PST) Received: from nobody by chain.digitalkingdom.org with local (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1GhqIX-0006zO-CU for lojban-list-real@lojban.org; Wed, 08 Nov 2006 08:29:09 -0800 Received: from wr-out-0506.google.com ([64.233.184.236]) by chain.digitalkingdom.org with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1GhqIQ-0006zB-3z for lojban-list@lojban.org; Wed, 08 Nov 2006 08:29:09 -0800 Received: by wr-out-0506.google.com with SMTP id 55so603153wri for ; Wed, 08 Nov 2006 08:28:59 -0800 (PST) DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws; s=beta; d=gmail.com; h=received:message-id:date:from:to:subject:in-reply-to:mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding:content-disposition:references; b=avdSkwGhIp6zCz3uvGACRn9dTGijdDcSseFoygdOYFOO3wtvVZq4VvrMghRVJzsnadrBBpoQThE5T06bOMZcA5kHTJN4wN7MCVNOOczz4c4I6ayop1TQBihM+WtZhlM2PzVUotQU62U1zwDNHU4bFGMGB3GctZbJDclA5azm/0g= Received: by 10.78.50.5 with SMTP id x5mr6658115hux.1163003338713; Wed, 08 Nov 2006 08:28:58 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.78.144.3 with HTTP; Wed, 8 Nov 2006 08:28:58 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2006 11:28:58 -0500 From: "Matt Arnold" To: lojban-list@lojban.org Subject: [lojban] Re: livejournal discrimination In-Reply-To: <200611081049.40483.colin.wright@denbridgemarine.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline References: <2d3df92a0611061040o5b0781c0o3df414476a3e0b68@mail.gmail.com> <200611081049.40483.colin.wright@denbridgemarine.com> X-Spam-Score: -2.5 (--) X-archive-position: 12948 X-ecartis-version: Ecartis v1.0.0 Sender: lojban-list-bounce@lojban.org Errors-to: lojban-list-bounce@lojban.org X-original-sender: matt.mattarn@gmail.com Precedence: bulk Reply-to: lojban-list@lojban.org X-list: lojban-list As conlangers, we tend to be non-conformists, and yet language is all about conformity. Language is a public participatory activity, so learning an artificial language when there is no one else to speak it with is kind of like secession. Every artificial language is a linguistic ghetto. Therefore, it should come as no surprise to us that artificial langauges constantly attract people who will secede from our tiny self-segregated ghetto, into a language spoken by only one person. I suggest that one person is too few. In order to have a fun hobby, if your hobby is an interpersonal activity such as language, you need several dozen participants at least. Lojban is uniquely vulnerable to the pursuit of perfection at the cost of interoperability. Lokadin is the latest reformer among countless. Eventually Lokadin will realize that no one is reading what he writes in Lojban because there do not exist a sufficiently large number of expert Lojbanists yet. The only way to acheive that would be consistent conformity, so that it is easier for beginners to learn Lojban. By not conforming to the standard, Lokadin is not contributing to the goal of expertise that would make it possible to deviate from that standard and still be widely understood. When he realizes that, Lojban will cease to be any fun for him. He might change to conform to our standard. Or he might leave. But I doubt he will speak his private language for long. -Eppcott To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to lojban-list-request@lojban.org with the subject unsubscribe, or go to http://www.lojban.org/lsg2/, or if you're really stuck, send mail to secretary@lojban.org for help.