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I think that all the others are right, but they don't have to be.

If you want everyone to speak a single language there are a few ways that it could be done:

1. Empire. Some time in the next 500 years a world power arises that is able to lay claim to a large percentage of the globe. This new empire decrees that language X should be the official language, be taught in all schools, and should be used for any and all business. While not all languages in its domain will die out, over several generations it will begin to become the first language for everyone, and by generation 4 or 5 there will be kids that won't even bother to learn the old language because it's so old fashioned and out of date with modern times. If the empire is large enough, they'd be able to influence the language of every other country, since if you want to do anything but local business you pretty much have to do it in language X.

2. Singularity. The mind/machine barrier is broken, virtual worlds become real, knowledge transfer becomes common. All of the sudden there is no barrier of entry for learning a new language; plug in, push a button, now I know Chinese, and German, and Russian.
   Each language has things that it is especially good at, and if there is no language barrier then people will use the language that most fits their need/mood/situation. At this point we wouldn't so much be down to one language, as we'd be to the point where language just doesn't matter any more. I'm speaking to you in Dutch, you're replying in Italian, mid sentence I switch to French for some really heart felt swearing.
   Edit from extended comments: with enough processing power and background data, we may be able to remove a lot of the language while moving more toward abstract concepts, and could eventually end up with something like Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra. This is essentially communication through memes, where people know what they mean and what they imply without having to spell it all out.

3. Just because you want it to be. In Firefly we are expected to believe that most of the galaxy speaks Chinese as a primary language, despite there being very few Chinese people in evidence. This is an artistic decision that made sense to the writers, and meant they could have swearing without resorting to made up words (like Battlestar Galactica and most YA fiction).
   You don't even have to explain why. "I don't know why. It's just always been this way, going back to my great-great-great-grandparents at least."

I think that all the others are right, but they don't have to be.

If you want everyone to speak a single language there are a few ways that it could be done:

1. Empire. Some time in the next 500 years a world power arises that is able to lay claim to a large percentage of the globe. This new empire decrees that language X should be the official language, be taught in all schools, and should be used for any and all business. While not all languages in its domain will die out, over several generations it will begin to become the first language for everyone, and by generation 4 or 5 there will be kids that won't even bother to learn the old language because it's so old fashioned and out of date with modern times. If the empire is large enough, they'd be able to influence the language of every other country, since if you want to do anything but local business you pretty much have to do it in language X.

2. Singularity. The mind/machine barrier is broken, virtual worlds become real, knowledge transfer becomes common. All of the sudden there is no barrier of entry for learning a new language; plug in, push a button, now I know Chinese, and German, and Russian.
   Each language has things that it is especially good at, and if there is no language barrier then people will use the language that most fits their need/mood/situation. At this point we wouldn't so much be down to one language, as we'd be to the point where language just doesn't matter any more. I'm speaking to you in Dutch, you're replying in Italian, mid sentence I switch to French for some really heart felt swearing.
   Edit from extended comments: with enough processing power and background data, we may be able to remove a lot of the language while moving more toward abstract concepts, and could eventually end up with something like Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra. This is essentially communication through memes, where people know what they mean and what they imply without having to spell it all out. Edit 2: Also, my apologies for implying that Dutch isn't a perfectly good language for swearing. I'm sure it's great, I just don't have any experience to draw from.

3. Just because you want it to be. In Firefly we are expected to believe that most of the galaxy speaks Chinese as a primary language, despite there being very few Chinese people in evidence. This is an artistic decision that made sense to the writers, and meant they could have swearing without resorting to made up words (like Battlestar Galactica and most YA fiction).
   You don't even have to explain why. "I don't know why. It's just always been this way, going back to my great-great-great-grandparents at least."

I think that all the others are right, but they don't have to be.

If you want everyone to speak a single language there are a few ways that it could be done:

1. Empire. Some time in the next 500 years a world power arises that is able to lay claim to a large percentage of the globe. This new empire decrees that language X should be the official language, be taught in all schools, and should be used for any and all business. While not all languages in its domain will die out, over several generations it will begin to become the first language for everyone, and by generation 4 or 5 there will be kids that won't even bother to learn the old language because it's so old fashioned and out of date with modern times. If the empire is large enough, they'd be able to influence the language of every other country, since if you want to do anything but local business you pretty much have to do it in language X.

2. Singularity. The mind/machine barrier is broken, virtual worlds become real, knowledge transfer becomes common. All of the sudden there is no barrier of entry for learning a new language; plug in, push a button, now I know Chinese, and German, and Russian.
   Each language has things that it is especially good at, and if there is no language barrier then people will use the language that most fits their need/mood/situation. At this point we wouldn't so much be down to one language, as we'd be to the point where language just doesn't matter any more. I'm speaking to you in Dutch, you're replying in Italian, mid sentence I switch to French for some really heart felt swearing.

3. Just because you want it to be. In Firefly we are expected to believe that most of the galaxy speaks Chinese as a primary language, despite there being very few Chinese people in evidence. This is an artistic decision that made sense to the writers, and meant they could have swearing without resorting to made up words (like Battlestar Galactica and most YA fiction).
   You don't even have to explain why. "I don't know why. It's just always been this way, going back to my great-great-great-grandparents at least."

I think that all the others are right, but they don't have to be.

If you want everyone to speak a single language there are a few ways that it could be done:

1. Empire. Some time in the next 500 years a world power arises that is able to lay claim to a large percentage of the globe. This new empire decrees that language X should be the official language, be taught in all schools, and should be used for any and all business. While not all languages in its domain will die out, over several generations it will begin to become the first language for everyone, and by generation 4 or 5 there will be kids that won't even bother to learn the old language because it's so old fashioned and out of date with modern times. If the empire is large enough, they'd be able to influence the language of every other country, since if you want to do anything but local business you pretty much have to do it in language X.

2. Singularity. The mind/machine barrier is broken, virtual worlds become real, knowledge transfer becomes common. All of the sudden there is no barrier of entry for learning a new language; plug in, push a button, now I know Chinese, and German, and Russian.
   Each language has things that it is especially good at, and if there is no language barrier then people will use the language that most fits their need/mood/situation. At this point we wouldn't so much be down to one language, as we'd be to the point where language just doesn't matter any more. I'm speaking to you in Dutch, you're replying in Italian, mid sentence I switch to French for some really heart felt swearing.
   Edit from extended comments: with enough processing power and background data, we may be able to remove a lot of the language while moving more toward abstract concepts, and could eventually end up with something like Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra. This is essentially communication through memes, where people know what they mean and what they imply without having to spell it all out.

3. Just because you want it to be. In Firefly we are expected to believe that most of the galaxy speaks Chinese as a primary language, despite there being very few Chinese people in evidence. This is an artistic decision that made sense to the writers, and meant they could have swearing without resorting to made up words (like Battlestar Galactica and most YA fiction).
   You don't even have to explain why. "I don't know why. It's just always been this way, going back to my great-great-great-grandparents at least."

I think that all the others are right, but they don't have to be.

If you want everyone to speak a single language there are a few ways that it could be done:

1. Empire. Some time in the next 500 years a world power arises that is able to lay claim to a large percentage of the globe. This new empire decrees that language X should be the official language, be taught in all schools, and should be used for any and all business. While not all languages in it's domain will die out, over several generations it will begin to become the first language for everyone, and by generation 4 or 5 there will be kids that won't even bother to learn the old language because it's so old fashioned and out of date with modern times. If the empire is large enough, they'd be able to influence the language of every other country, since if you want to do anything but local business you pretty much have to do it in language X.

2. Singularity. The mind/machine barrier is broken, virtual worlds become real, knowledge transfer becomes common. All of the sudden there is no barrier of entry for learning a new language; plug in, push a button, now I know Chinese, and German, and Russian.
   Each language has things that it is especially good at, and if there is no language barrier then people will use the language that most fits their need/mood/situation. At this point we wouldn't so much be down to one language, as we'd be to the point where language just doesn't matter any more. I'm speaking to you in Dutch, you're replying in Italian, mid sentence I switch to French for some really heart felt swearing.

3. Just because you want it to be. In Firefly we are expected to believe that most of the galaxy speaks Chinese as a primary language, despite there being very few Chinese people in evidence. This is an artistic decision that made sense to the writers, and meant they could have swearing without resorting to made up words (like Battlestar Galactica and most YA fiction).
   You don't even have to explain why. "I don't know why. It's just always been this way, going back to my great-great-great-grandparents at least."

I think that all the others are right, but they don't have to be.

If you want everyone to speak a single language there are a few ways that it could be done:

1. Empire. Some time in the next 500 years a world power arises that is able to lay claim to a large percentage of the globe. This new empire decrees that language X should be the official language, be taught in all schools, and should be used for any and all business. While not all languages in its domain will die out, over several generations it will begin to become the first language for everyone, and by generation 4 or 5 there will be kids that won't even bother to learn the old language because it's so old fashioned and out of date with modern times. If the empire is large enough, they'd be able to influence the language of every other country, since if you want to do anything but local business you pretty much have to do it in language X.

2. Singularity. The mind/machine barrier is broken, virtual worlds become real, knowledge transfer becomes common. All of the sudden there is no barrier of entry for learning a new language; plug in, push a button, now I know Chinese, and German, and Russian.
   Each language has things that it is especially good at, and if there is no language barrier then people will use the language that most fits their need/mood/situation. At this point we wouldn't so much be down to one language, as we'd be to the point where language just doesn't matter any more. I'm speaking to you in Dutch, you're replying in Italian, mid sentence I switch to French for some really heart felt swearing.

3. Just because you want it to be. In Firefly we are expected to believe that most of the galaxy speaks Chinese as a primary language, despite there being very few Chinese people in evidence. This is an artistic decision that made sense to the writers, and meant they could have swearing without resorting to made up words (like Battlestar Galactica and most YA fiction).
   You don't even have to explain why. "I don't know why. It's just always been this way, going back to my great-great-great-grandparents at least."