Description
Book SynopsisWill language as we know it cease to exist? What could this mean for the way we live our lives?
Shining a light on the technology currently being developed to revolutionise communication, The Future of Language distinguishes myth from reality and superstition from scientifically-based prediction as it plots out the importance of language and raises questions about its future.
From the rise of artificial intelligence and speaking robots, to brain implants and
computer-facilitated telepathy, language and communications expert Philip Seargeant surveys the development of new digital languages', such as emojis, animated gifs and memes, and investigates how conventions of spoken and written language are being modified by new trends in communication.
From George Orwell's fictional predictions in Nineteen Eighty-Four to the very real warnings of climate activist Greta Thunberg, Seargeant explores language through time, traversing politics,
Trade Review
You leave this book … with a renewed belief in language as “inherently creative”, offering what Noam Chomsky called "infinite expression by finite means”, and still our best way of expressing the sensory infinitude of being alive. -- Peter Williams * New Statesman *
In his scholarly, must-read book, Seargeant makes us think about the underpinnings of these convenient tools and what they portend for language, one of the cornerstones of human identity. -- Vijaysree Venkatraman * New Scientist *
It is certain that our use of language is going to change in the near, mid- and long-term future. In this thought-provoking and sometimes rather alarming book, the implications for the human race are considered. Philip Seargeant raises issues that no one can afford to ignore. -- Steve Buckledee, University of Cagliari, Italy
Table of Contents
1. After the Fall 2. Change is the Only Constant 3. The Three-Cornered World 4. An Imaginary Guide to the Future 5. Inventing Language 6. Cyborg Speech 7. Is Anybody Out There? 8. The Decay of Lying 9. They Who Control the Past Control the Future 10. Futureproofing the World References Index
