Post by Chicago Jake on Oct 20, 2012 23:56:48 GMT -6
I just finished a fascinating science fiction novel by my favorite author, Jack Vance. It is called The Languages of Pao, and it was published in my birth year of 1958.
The plot is pretty much a cliche: the absolute monarch of the planet Pao is bumped off by his brother, and his young son (and rightful heir to the throne) must go into hiding, biding his time until he can return to his birth-right and take back the throne.
The interesting part is the science: this takes place in the way distant future on the far distant planet of Pao, where the population is very docile and complacent and little given to complain, no matter what happens. The new (illegitimate) monarch finds that his planet is often conquered by neighboring planets and forced to pay tribute. He cannot rouse his population to resistance, and must pay the tribute.
But a scientist from a neighboring planet offers to help. He diagnoses the problem to be the language spoken on Pao: it is very passive and non-confrontational. He espouses the doctrine that language dictates the concepts that people can comprehend, and therefore governs the behavior that they will exhibit.
This theory was very much in vogue at the time of the writing of this novel, and was known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (also known as "linguistic relativity"). Orwell also exploited the concept with his "Newspeak" in 1984. Anyway, the neighboring scientist offered to help the planet of Pao to create several new castes, each with their own language that would help to spur their capabilities: a warrior caste, a technical caste, and a trading caste. They do so, and the planet of Pao expels their conquerors, and develops a thriving new economy.
The plot proceeds predictably, and isn't terribly interesting in and of itself. But I found the linguistic theory to be extremely fascinating and thought provoking.
Anyone else ever read this book? And even if you haven't, do you subscribe to the concept that our language helps to define what concepts we can understand? And therefore what actions we are capable of?
The plot is pretty much a cliche: the absolute monarch of the planet Pao is bumped off by his brother, and his young son (and rightful heir to the throne) must go into hiding, biding his time until he can return to his birth-right and take back the throne.
The interesting part is the science: this takes place in the way distant future on the far distant planet of Pao, where the population is very docile and complacent and little given to complain, no matter what happens. The new (illegitimate) monarch finds that his planet is often conquered by neighboring planets and forced to pay tribute. He cannot rouse his population to resistance, and must pay the tribute.
But a scientist from a neighboring planet offers to help. He diagnoses the problem to be the language spoken on Pao: it is very passive and non-confrontational. He espouses the doctrine that language dictates the concepts that people can comprehend, and therefore governs the behavior that they will exhibit.
This theory was very much in vogue at the time of the writing of this novel, and was known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (also known as "linguistic relativity"). Orwell also exploited the concept with his "Newspeak" in 1984. Anyway, the neighboring scientist offered to help the planet of Pao to create several new castes, each with their own language that would help to spur their capabilities: a warrior caste, a technical caste, and a trading caste. They do so, and the planet of Pao expels their conquerors, and develops a thriving new economy.
The plot proceeds predictably, and isn't terribly interesting in and of itself. But I found the linguistic theory to be extremely fascinating and thought provoking.
Anyone else ever read this book? And even if you haven't, do you subscribe to the concept that our language helps to define what concepts we can understand? And therefore what actions we are capable of?