This really betrays Hofstadter's age and the fact that he's being left behind by technology and by the modern world.
It's really sad to see something like this happen to him.
Instead of seeing it as everyone having an amazing language coach in their pocket. Or finding ways to radically accelerate language learning. Or of bringing everyone together but still having those few core languages you know (you will always be ignorant of most languages). Or of saving languages that might otherwise die. He focuses on a hypothetical negative.
It's really sad to see something like this happen to him.
Instead of seeing it as everyone having an amazing language coach in their pocket. Or finding ways to radically accelerate language learning. Or of bringing everyone together but still having those few core languages you know (you will always be ignorant of most languages). Or of saving languages that might otherwise die. He focuses on a hypothetical negative.
Age is the ultimate disease.