It has been demonstrated that echo patterns captured from dolphins are a 2d planar projection of the 3d objects in the environment facing them. Thus, dolphins u

It has been demonstrated that echo patterns captured from dolphins are a 2d planar projection of the 3d objects in the environment facing them. Thus, dolphins use a form of hieroglyphics where the 'words' are really pictograms. The real question is how humans went from this kind of pictogram/sign language (that our ancestors used) to the abstract mapping of sound<->writing<->picture that we use today. We attribute intelligence as the catalyst for this change. Yet intelligence , per se, evolved to facilitate survival in the face of increasingly efficient predators. Aliens with intelligence would certainly be using a similar abstract mapping. I shudder to think of their predators tho.