No language is inherently "faster." Languages that pack more meaning into single words (polysynthetic) are spoken more slowly, while those with simpler words (like English) are spoken more quickly. This trade-off creates a universal, constant rate of information transfer across all human languages.

With non-native speakers as the majority of English users, the language constantly evolves in diverse ways globally. Efforts to impose a simplified, standard version for business (like "globish") are unlikely to succeed because language is a living system that speakers inherently and creatively adapt, making it impossible to control.

The push to save endangered languages often ignores the practical burden it places on marginalized communities. It asks them to invest immense effort in learning highly complex languages that offer little economic utility, primarily to satisfy the aesthetic and cultural desires of affluent Westerners.

No language is 'perfect' because its evolution is a trade-off. Speakers tend toward efficiency and simplification (slurring), while hearers require clarity and precision. This constant tug-of-war drives linguistic change, explaining why languages are always in flux.

Creole languages, born from language contact, strip away needless complexities like grammatical gender and irregular verbs. They are radically easier to learn than older, "gunked up" languages yet remain fully expressive, making them a model of efficient linguistic design.

Today's rapid language death is primarily fueled by utilitarian choices, not just oppression. Speakers of smaller languages voluntarily switch to dominant ones like English or Swahili to provide their children with better economic opportunities, viewing the ancestral tongue as a barrier to prosperity.

A language's global status is a function of the social, political, and economic power of its speakers. English, once considered a "crude" language spoken on an island, spread through imperialism and the economic rise of English-speaking nations, not because it is an inherently better or simpler language.

Building on William James, the hosts argue that language is a crucial tool for connection. It takes the unique, ever-changing, and private "stream of thought" and abstracts it into stable, communicable symbols (words). This allows individuals to find common ground and overcome the "absolute breach" between their subjective realities.

Unlike the past, when languages could diverge into new forms within centuries, modern widespread literacy and constant media exposure act as a brake on linguistic change. English in a thousand years may still be largely comprehensible to us, a stark contrast to previous rates of evolution.