Preserving Endangered Languages is More Important Than Spreading Major Language

"My opponent brings up an excellent point on the use of widespread language. However, one needs to note that my topic relates to that of culture, which is in itself useless." Absolutely not! While some aspects of culture are probably useless, many others are not. The technology to build the computers we are using to communicate for example. Or the language in which we do so. These two cultural items alone have proved extremely useful to me over the course of my life. "Latin is also used in Science and Law. Belle's point can actually be considered to further my own, considering the contributions that a language with no native speakers can affect so much." Hardly. No one attempted to preserve Latin over and above other languages, they simply found it useful. Additionally, one language out of hundreds, if not thousands, having some use is no mandate to save the languages for the sake of diversity or culture. "My opponents argument regarding technology can also be enveloped to suit my own purpose; with access to technology that can essentially interpret and translate languages, my opponents point that large languages can provide ease of communication is becoming increasingly null." Unless and until we have a babelfish sort of technology than can be implanted in the ear and instantly translate whats heard, communication barriers do make a difference, even if that difference is smaller than it has been in the past. "My opponent also seems to think that because of modern day technology, minor languages would be much less important to the military. Any type of knowledge that the military has includes a possibility that it can be used for a useful purpose." That doesn't mean the Military should invest in a department of astrology to better predict the best days to start important campaigns. While knowledge is important to the military, simply advocating they amass as much as possible because they "might need it" is inefficient. Even granting your premise that rare or obscure languages can be useful to the military, it doesn't follow that such languages need any native speakers to be known or useful, as the example of Latin is meant to demonstrate. "Even because of this fact, however, there continues to be Renaissance faires, reenactments, pow-wows, and cosplay events. Also note that none of these events are in a freeze frame, per se. One would be hard pressed to find one of these events that last more than a few days. http://www.cosplay.com...... I have not even hinted that I propose to freeze frame languages. Instead, cultural and historic events can play an essential role in getting individuals interested in the language preservation process." So what? If people want to indulge in cultural habits of the past there is no reason to stop them. There is also no reason to encourage such activities, or be worried when languages start going extinct. If individual people think a language is worth saving they will do so. If they do not, then so what? Why should "strangers" to the language, with no interest in it whatsoever, work to preserve something that is found to be of no value to anyone? "Around 50 to 90 percent of all languages are at high chances of becoming extinct within a hundred years. http://www.thelancet.com......(01)06332-2/fulltext# In the same link, my central proposal resides. It is unrealistic to expect people to learn full languages, reaping little tangible benefits. Language documentation is a wonderful alternative." If the language isn't benefiting anyone, why are we keeping it around again? "In fact, I estimate that one can find more organizations attempting to preserve endangered languages than I can find organizations attempting to preserve historic clothing." Irrelevant. Just because a lot of people want to preserve languages, that doesn't mean that we all should want to do the same, nor does it make preserving languages at all important. And again you refer to cultural identity and again I ask you- if a language is going extinct then that means it is losing native speakers- IOW it is part of very few people's cultural identities and will cease to be part of anyone's once it is extinct. Given this, how does it make sense to panic about people losing their cultural identity? It doesn't! The only cultural identities that are ever really threatened are those of people already dead.