The Rambler
January 27, 2023
As the semester comes to a close, the staff of The Rambler was posed with a “Would you rather…” question: Would you rather be able to speak every language or be able to speak with animals? Read their responses below.
Henry Abercrombie
I would rather be able to speak with animals than speak every language. If a person had the time and dedication, they could learn every language, but no one would be able to directly speak with animals. Additionally, even if you knew every language, how often would you end up using your backlog of languages that were only used by one specific people, or ancient languages that are long since dead? Comparatively, one could talk with animals nearly every single day. If one wished to expand this power to all creatures within the Kingdom Animalia, you could commune with all sorts of tiny insects and other small creatures on land and in water. Due to these tiny creatures being relatively simple, it would be likely that you could influence their behaviors with your will by communicating with them. This ability could become potentially disastrous, allowing you to whip up a swarm of locusts, or perhaps incite a stampede of elephants. While there are benefits to speaking all languages, the sheer amount of biological information to be gained by communicating with animals is immense. It would be especially interesting to commune with intelligent animals like dolphins, gorillas, and crows. Personally, I would love to discover the reasons behind animal behavior, and find out how intelligent they really are.
Gabe Allegretto
I think that I would want to speak every language. Being able to speak to animals sounds appealing, but I think that speaking every language is just more practical. Being able to speak every language is especially useful in the United States where we have such a diverse range of people who speak different languages. Also, talking to animals all the time might send people the wrong message.
Olivia Buckel
I would definitely want to talk with animals. I think I could have a bunch of scientific breakthroughs, interesting conversations, and I could have a friend group of zoo animals. I also could travel more interesting places. If I want to go to Africa or a rain forest to explore I can explain to the animals that I mean them no harm. I have always wondered what my dogs are thinking, and I could finally find out.
Luke Costello
To me, I believe the thought of being able to talk to animals is much more appealing then speaking every language. Although there are pros and cons to both, speaking every language would be awesome because you could be one of few people able to talk to anyone in the world. As this would be amazing, just the thought of it, I believe that at one point it’s just like talking to any old person like you do every single day. As opposed to talking to animals, you can detect different personalities and understand them better than anyone. For example, many say dogs are a man’s best friend. This is amazing too because dogs don’t even talk. The relationship that can be built while being able to talk to a dog could be so much more. It would make a dog a man’s actual best friend in the world instead of just saying it. Not only could you talk to dogs, but you could talk to so many exotic animals and that is endless. All in all I believe talking to animals could be much cooler than talking every language.
I would rather be able to speak any language than speak with animals. I would be able to travel anywhere and not have a language barrier. This would allow me to communicate with many people I previously never would have been able to. This skill would be a diplomatic advantage and help me socialize and make friends around the globe.
Alicia Gonzalez
I would rather be able to speak in every language rather than speaking to animals. Speaking to animals would take away their allure. I think it would be unsettling if suddenly I could have a conversation with my dog. Speaking in every language would give me opportunities to do good either through being a diplomat or mediator. Being able to understand people of all languages is a skill that would be unique and in my opinion more useful than being able to talk to animals.
Aiden Gromley
If I got speak to either animals or anything language, I would totally choose to speak to animals for the long run. No one has ever spoke to an animal in the world and if I was able to fully understand people and animals, the greatness that would come with that would be unmatched. Imagine the ability to communicate great with animals and form a huge bond with the creatures other than humans. You can always try and form a friendly bond with the human, but being able to form a friendship with a shark would be an unmatched experience. Talking to animals would be far more fun to do than speak every language.
Hayden Hutchinson
I would rather be able to speak all languages. I feel the practicality of being able to speak to people of all cultures is more applicable than speaking to animals. My grandfather can speak six languages which helps him in his daily life, so I have seen how important speaking different languages can be. As Mr. Hubert taught me, the power of rhetoric is more powerful than most think, and being able to converse in all languages would help with my personal rhetorical skills. Overall, I think more good can be done to humanity by being able to speak every language than talk to animals.
Matt Kalie
I would rather talk to animals. It would be cool to talk to people in any language, but I believe talking to animals is much cooler. Every man’s best friend is a dog even without the talking. I couldn’t imagine how much better the friendship would be if dogs could talk. Doing things like going swimming with dolphins would be so much cooler along with going to a zoo and talking to them. I think the best thing would being able to finally figure out what goes on inside their heads.
Kendra Piotrowski
I would rather talk to animals because I love animals, and I’ve always wanted to talk to my dog. I also think it would be super fun to be able to talk to animals and just know how they think and what they feel. And imagine just going to a zoo, and being able to talk to all of the animals.
John Santone
If I had a choice, I would choose the ability to speak any language. Language is one of the largest barriers between people in the world. It would be cool to be able to travel anywhere and not have an issue with communication. I also have always been interested in foreign cultures, and language is one of the biggest parts of every culture on the globe.
Dominick Scarpino
I would rather speak every language than talk to animals. I feel like talking to people about their experiences in their own language where nothing can be lost in translation would be infinitely more interesting than talking to an animal. I would be able to travel anywhere in the world without having to worry about understanding what the people there are saying. It would also be fun to live in the culture with the intended language. That’s why I feel I would enjoy speaking every language better than talking to animals.
Leave your response in the comments.
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