Deciphering ancient human languages has a long history, but is replete with personal struggles against people who are, or seem to be, fanatically determined to block progress. Similarities with this and Marpa's progress are blatant.
I've just finished re-reading 2 fascinating books on ancient human language: o The Story of Decipherment, Maurice Pope, Thames and Hudson, 0-500-28105-X. o Glyphbreaker, Steven Roger Fischer, Copernicus, 0-387-98241-8. Fischer deciphered both the Phaistos Disk, and the rongorongo script of Rapanui aka Easter island. To encourage people working with Marpa, I thought I'd quote a few lines from Fischer's book: o p 125. When Max Plank was once asked how he changed the minds of those who doubted the new physics he had helped to found. He hadn't changed their minds, he replied. They died. o p 125. I (Fischer) was only too mindful of the fierce opposition that Michael Ventris had met thirty years earlier when he revealed - through the successful decipherment of the Linear B script - that the Mycenaeans had spoken Greek. o p 126. New ideas are never universally accepted. They are a path slashed into the wilderness. Of course there will always be those select pioneers who recognize the promise and at once follow the path. However, most people only gradually, if ever, see that the way into the wilderness is there. This inertia is inherent in every human endeavor and is as old as humankind itself. o p 126. "But I recognized to my chagrin ... that my working monograph ... was being read by classicists and epigraphers in a way that I hadn't intended it to be read. It was being misinterpreted and misunderstood. This caused me no end of disappointment... The new path was there, but they apparently were still unable to see it. On p 126 and 127 he gives a long list of fabrications people used to resist acceptable, ending with: o p 127. And then there was the leading Greek archaeologist who proclaimed that only a Greek could solve the riddle of the Phaistos Disk. Elsewhere (in the book) Fischer writes in this vein: These same people were of course the ones who controlled access to grant money, and were of course the biggest receivers of such monies despite their personal wealth. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "marpa parser" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
