“The Lord confused the language of all the earth.”
(Here are the first and second parts of the scholion on this verse.)
The confusion of languages is also displayed in an ironic and ominous way in the modern academy. The effort of the various disciplines to delve more and more deeply into narrower subjects results in a situation in which inter-disciplinary discussion is simply impossible. Who can discuss the fineries of theology and the mechanics of cellular evolution at the same time? Who in each discipline can even begin to understand the vocabulary and significance of the work of the other? We see how even our well-intended human quests, tinted perhaps by a certain pride, end in the scattering of knowledge.
This is most dangerous where, for example, ethicists and biological researchers cannot comprehend one another. What results will this have for human beings? It seems to me that many of the more frightening advances in medicine will either not benefit the poor, who cannot afford highly specialized procedures, or will actively harm them (witness the incentives involved in finding live or recently-deceased research subjects). And yet, rather than slow down and take the time to listen for what will benefit all, we instead let our desire to ‘make a name for ourselves’ [Gen. 11: 4] continue to drive us on down who knows what bitter road.