Scientific Babelism

The proponents of "Wrathful Dispersion Theory" have been vulnerable to the criticism that their viewpoint is religious rather than scientific in nature. But now, we see a strong scientific alternative to the increasingly-discredited theory of so-called "historical linguistics", as Dennis Baron explains ("The great language change hoax", 4/1/2013):

Deniers of global warming, the big bang, and evolution have a new target: language change. Arguing that language change is just a theory, not a fact, they’re launching efforts to remove it from the school curriculum. To support their efforts, they’re citing a new report, “The Great Language Change Hoax,” presented last month at the annual conference of the Society for Pure English in Toronto.

The authors of the study, Jon Lamarck and Tori Lysenko, are cognitive biophysicists at Hudson University who feel that explaining language is best done by scientists who know nothing about language. Linguists, the researchers usually associated with language study, are too close to their subject matter, thus too subjective. “We don’t even like language,” Lamarck told attendees at the SPE conference. “That’s why we can be objective about it.”

Lamarck and Lysenko do admit that language, like climate, can vary. “No one’s going to doubt that Chicago is slightly warmer by the lake and cooler in the suburbs, just as no one doubts that I say tomayto and you say tomahto,” said Lysenko.

Variation, according to Lamarck and Lysenko, isn’t change. "You may say tomahto, but actually, you're wrong, it's tomayto. Hence, no change," he said. More important, the researchers conclude that although language may vary, it doesn’t actually change over time. That’s the myth—the great language change hoax—that these scientists are so eager to expose. "Just as there’s no proof that dinosaurs lived before humans, there's no reason to believe that language existed before there was writing, so it couldn't have evolved,” Lysenko said, a statement sure to make him popular with the young earth crowd. "And it’s important to remember that people don’t cause language change,” Lamarck added, echoing the anti-climate-change rhetoric.

Some relevant LL posts:

"Linguists boycott Kansas intelligent design hearings", 5/5/2005 "Chomsky testifies in Kansas", 5/6/2005 "Wrathful Dispersion Theory", 12/2/2005 "The science and theology of global language change", 12/30/2007 "Mailbag: The comparative theology of linguistic diversity", 12/31/2007 "The origin of speeches: Wrathful dispersion for real?", 12/31/2007