of various language backgrounds. Partly inspired by Taoist philosophy, another goal of Toki Pona is to help its speakers focus on the essentials by reducing complex concepts to basic elements. From these simple notions, more complex ideas can be built up by simple combining. This allows the users to see the fundamental nature and effect of the ideas expressed. In accordance with the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, which states that a language influences the way its speakers think and behave, Toki Pona was designed to induce positive thinking. Another aim of the language is for the speakers to become aware of the present moment and pay more attention to the surroundings and the words people use. According to its author, it is meant to be "fun and cute". Although it was not intended as an international auxiliary language, a world-wide online community uses it for communication. History An early version of the language was published online in 2001 by Sonja Lang, and it quickly gained popularity. Early activity took place in a Yahoo! group. Members of the group discussed the language with one another in English, Toki Pona, and Esperanto, proposed changes, and talked about the resources on the site. At its peak member count, the group had a little over 500 members. Messages in the group were archived in the Toki Pona forum using phpBB. In 2014, Lang released her first book on the language, Toki Pona: The Language of Good, which features one hundred and twenty words plus three synonyms and provides a completed form of the language based on how Lang used the language at the time. In 2016, the book was also published in French. In 2008 an application for an ISO 639-3 code was rejected, with a statement that the language was too young. Another request was rejected in 2018 as the language "does not appear to be used in a variety of domains nor for communication within a community which includes all ages". A third request was filed in August 2021, which resulted in the ISO 639-3 code "" being adopted in January 2022. Toki Pona was the subject of some scientific works, and it has also been used for artificial intelligence and software tools, as well as a therapeutic method for eliminating negative thinking by having patients keep track of their thoughts in the language. In 2010 it was chosen for the first version of