From about 1880 to 1950, a new large movement came and went: the international auxiliary language movement. An international auxiliary language or “IAL” is a common language between two people of different native languages. Historically, natural languages like Koine Greek, Latin, French and English have served this purpose. But within the emerging IAL movement, the goal was to construct a language. This language would be state-less and without ethnicity, have a completely regular grammar, be massively simplified and be easier to learn than English or French.
Esperanto, created by a Polish eye doctor in the 1880’s, is today the most successful attempt at this, and it has between 100,000 and 1 million speakers today. But there have been hundreds, if not thousands, of different IAL projects, all with different philosophies and attitudes. In a way, it reminds me of the crypto space today. In my youth, I was involved in the Esperanto movement. And I learnt some things that I think is worth sharing.
Good enough is perfect, and perfection is never good enough. Esperanto has its quirks and flaws. It was far from perfect, but it was good enough. Good enough to be taught, learnt, and used. People have tinkered with Esperanto for over a century, and this has spawned many different projects, all seeking to make “the perfect IAL.” But in the end, Esperanto, which is only “good enough”, has stood the test of time, and these other projects barely have any users.
However, only genius is “good enough.” Before Esperanto, there was Volapük, constructed by a German priest. But as a constructed language, Volapük was difficult, it was hard to learn and to understand. When Esperanto entered the stage, most Volapükists started using Esperanto, and Volapük was abandoned. Esperanto was simply better. While not perfect, there was still a core genius to Esperanto which people were attracted to. Turns out, even just being “good enough” is a very high bar.
At some point, philosophy comes second to usability. Esperanto, like many IALs, attracted a certain kind of people, and people started using it because they believed in the fundamental ideas of its creator and the nascent community. But as it grew in size and reach, more and more people came in. They realised that a tool, a language, could not be limited to people of a specific ideological conviction. Esperanto is built on a certain ideology. But instead of forcing everyone to agree with the leader, they wanted everyone to use Esperanto, and gradually a consensus developed, based on real world experience.
A diversity of projects is not a bad thing. Most IAL projects have died. But a few have stuck around, and they serve different niches. Esperanto is by far the biggest and most popular. But other projects are Ido, Interlingua, Occidental, Lingua Franca Nova. These projects attract people who probably wouldn’t use Esperanto in the first place, and the whole IAL space is richer because of it. And with these other projects, you can explore phenomena and test out ideas which the original Esperanto never could accommodate.