Re: Language deaths on the Indian Ocean?

From: Jacques Guy (jguy_at_alphalink.com.au)
Date: 12/29/04 

Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 12:29:16 +1000

Keith GOERINGER wrote:

> Agreed. Linguistically, humanistically, and just about any other way,
> it is horrific to ponder.

So what? That's life (which is death). Right now there is
an asteroid 440km across hurling towards the Earth,
and it has a non-negligible chance of scoring a hit.
If it does, you and I are unlikely to be around to
ponder. In 200 million years palaeontologists evolved from
cockroaches or termites will wonder about the cause
of our extinction ("our" includes our distant relatives
with fangs and claws and fins). 200 million years from now
our buildings will have turned to dust, our machines
to powder, our computers to sand. Nothing left. Nothing.
Is that going to prevent me from sleeping soundly
tonight?