The reason why such a dramatic decline in communication abilities due to the influence of slang is such a problem is because formal language must be preserved within a society. Society, especially multiple societies, cannot share knowledge without having a shared, formal language. Historically, the language shared between scholars was Latin. All scholars of science, mathematics, philosophy, and theology wrote in Latin, whether they were of German descent, French descent or any other descent, so that their knowledge could be passed down and understood by others. Today, the language most shared by those in the academic world is English; English is the preferred learned language of nearly every country in the world. So, formal English must be preserved in order to further preserve the ability to share knowledge.