I am a big Douglas Adams fan. For those of you who don’t immediately recognize that name, perhaps you have heard of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. If you haven’t, you need to check it out.
HGG originated in 1978, the same year I graduated from high school, and combined an incredibly inventive premise with sharp and funny writing. By using an otherworldly setting, Adams introduced thought-provoking imagery without worrying about the bounds of reality.
One of the technologies Adams highlighted in his books was the Babel fish, which really wasn’t so much a technology as it was an organism. Adams himself wrote there was no possibility humans could invent something so “mind bogglingly useful,” capable of tackling the intricacies of language. He also discussed the cultural baggage that goes with it. The Babel fish was literally a fish inserted into the ear that would instantly translate any communication from any language or dialect into the brain of the “wearer.” Sounds like an amazing, incredibly useful device, wouldn’t you think? No more fumbling around with translation services or speaking into apps—just normal conversations.
All of this came to mind as I was reading an article from The Guardian, reprinted on Medium, that highlighted how Google has come up with an in-ear device to provide the magic of the Babel fish. However, as the article accurately points out, the issue is not with translation, but with context.
Translations miss the mark all the time. The problem occurs when something translated doesn’t have the correct context of the person who utters the phrase. For example, in Japan, because of a mistranslation from the 1950’s, to this day, women give men chocolates on February 14th. Even setting aside translation, the world is rife with examples of people who misunderstand others’ intentions, purely as a misinterpretation of what was said in the same language.
The point is, instantly translating what a person says in another language does not impart the context of meaning the speaker intends. By taking our time to ascertain what someone really means, rather than acting on impulse, can avoid an embarrassing situation, or much worse. In 1945, the Japanese prime minister was pressed for a response to the Allied forces ultimatum for surrender. His response of “Mokusatsu” (meaning, “no comment”) was mistranslated as “not worthy of comment”—big difference.
Adams realized the danger the Babel fish posed to humanity as he wrote, “The poor Babel fish, by effectively removing all barriers to communication between different cultures and races, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation.” So, let’s celebrate our ability to come up with amazing technological advances, but use caution in how we apply that technology to avoid unintended consequences.