I can't say how deeply sad it makes me that we have this perception about creating languages -- that it's something you do if you want to have silly wacky fun in your fantasy book or movie.<p>It's like it was before the creation of the electronic communication standards we now take for granted, but much, much worse. It's not that we're unable to exchange documents, it's that we cannot exchange even basic ideas with our fellow humans if they happened to be born somewhere else.<p>I'm a native speaker of English. So far I've spent two years in China studying Mandarin, and I'm still like a small child. Most people would never be willing to do what I've done. Or, if willing, they wouldn't have the opportunity. The situation for Chinese people learning English is just as daunting, if not moreso.<p>Our natural languages grew like crazed mushrooms. They don't obey sensical rules. They're full of exceptions. That's why they're so hard. But it doesn't have to be that way. We can and should create a language whose rules fit on a postcard. If I know how to say its words, I should know how to spell them, and if I see them written, I should know how to say them. The new language's sounds could be carefully chosen to be comfortable for a very large number of humans. Learning such a language would actually be doable in a reasonable amount of time. The benefits of being able to communicate with all our fellow humans go on and on.<p>Of course, people should go on speaking their native languages -- they're fun! Even if a miracle took place and a brilliant standard language were standardized tomorrow, I'd continue my language studies, because it's wonderful to be able to tell people that I consider them my family in their own language. But when necessary or helpful, we should be able to switch to the standard language.<p>It's an ongoing travesty. It really makes me sad that humans cannot get their act together enough to build such a desperately needed bridge.