Joe Rogan Experience #2546 - Michael Button · Aired Aug 26, 2026
Claim summary · not a verbatim quotation
The oldest known language, ancient Chinese, is only a few thousand years old.
The finding
What the evidence shows
Old Chinese writing isn't the oldest known writing system, let alone language. Sumerian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs both emerged around 3400 to 3250 BCE, roughly 2,000 years before Chinese script appears, and spoken language itself predates any writing system by tens of thousands of years.
Read the supporting source · en.wikipedia.org ↗Quick answer & review status
Quick answer
Is it true that the oldest known language, ancient Chinese, is only a few thousand years old?
No, not as stated. Old Chinese writing isn't the oldest known writing system, let alone language. Sumerian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs both emerged around 3400 to 3250 BCE, roughly 2,000 years before Chinese script appears, and spoken language itself predates any writing system by tens of thousands of years. Michael Button said it (matched by voice) on Joe Rogan Experience #2546 - Michael Button, aired Aug 26, 2026, at 2:21:56. The supporting source is en.wikipedia.org, linked below.
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