I've mentioned neurolinguistic programming before. The idea being that a language that a person is fluent in has the language pretty much wires into his or her brain pattern, thus making the person vulnerable to attacks that abuse these predictable patterns in order to rewire the brain. The easiest language to do this in is, of course, binary. With other languages that people use more than just for an odd conversation with an URAL computer there is a distinct problem.
Redundancy. 'Rogue', 'mendicant', 'shake-rag', 'beggar'. All words that signify the same, but are different. 'A vile rascal', 'a miserable caitiff', 'crafty knave', 'idle truant', 'fornicating whore', 'filthy sloven', 'perfidious traitor'... word combinations that cause educated listeners to cringe. Having more than one word to signify a single idea, and the possibility to use two words signifying the same idea together is a huge mayhem for any programmer. There are just too many unnecessary surplus words in any language for anyone to be able to predict the specific neural activity for any single word - the neural patterns are connections, ideas linked to other ideas, and sometimes, ideas linked to the same ideas as with the case of synonyms. Any redundancy can create its own link, thus changing the pattern. In the end, it is like looking up 'recurrence' in a dictionary. For this reason, John Wilkins set out to create a language, a 'philosophical language' that would contain a single word for a single idea. This was necessary to achieve the next level of language - a language in which an untrue statement would be grammatically impossible. In essence, an universal language, a divine language for everyone to use to express ideas without any chance of misinterpretation or misleading. A language where meaning is possible only in its purest form.
A language that is hackable. If every word signifies a thought, and every thought is signified by a single word, the consequences of a word become predictable, mappable. The effect of having each word as an input, something heard or read, becomes accurately measurable, thus simplifying the hack - the easier it is to predict the outcome of a hack, the more efficient hack can be created. And really, what better hack to wreak havoc than a hack that alters this encryption, changes the way the words are linked. A new Bable.
Wilkins never achieved his goals because language is a tricky devil. Words have nuances, sentences have innuendos (if you do not believe me, try watching a some Japanese anime), stories have greater meanings. It is safety through security, a meaning between the lines. This is unfortunate, but it is how language has been created.
People are tricky as well. Even if there was a language in which a lie would constitute incorrect grammar, there would still be ways to go around the truth. Even now, officials in large companies keep saying they have not heard of PRISM, they have respected users' privacy (yeah, right, Google), they have not allowed backdoor entrance for CIA or FBI into their servers. But they do not say they have not given out personal information freely, they do not say they have not allowed any access to their servers. In almost everything they say there are loopholes. They do not lie per se, but they are not exactly telling the whole truth either. They might not have known that they were giving the information to PRISM, they might have known they were giving it to NSA. The fact that they might not be lying does not mean we get the information we are asking for. It is the age-old problem with truth serums, they may stop the lies but they do not guarantee cooperation.
Neurolinguistic programming would be a nifty idea, if we could simplify language. Alas, that is impossible as language is inherently complex, full of hidden messages and codes, mysteries wrapped in riddles wrapped in codes. Language is complicated because the users of it are complicated, devious and illogical. They have a tendency not to do what they believe is best for them and even if they do, they often think wrong. Ponder about it as I leave a quotation from Douglas Adams to ease your souls as you go on to your future endeavors.
"You live and learn. At any rate, you live."
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