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Interesting post. But I wonder if the focus on how we would communicate with aliens makes sense. In the case of this movie, they arrived here, apparently. If t
by adriand 10y ago
Interesting post. But I wonder if the focus on how we would communicate with aliens makes sense. In the case of this movie, they arrived here, apparently. If they're that much more technologically advanced than we are, wouldn't they be taking the lead on communicating with us? They'd probably have a substantial set of templates for how to communicate with primitive civilizations developed already.
- kijin 10y agoI haven't watched the movie, but there are some possible explanations for the discrepancy you mention: 1. Perhaps all the other civilizations they've met so far communicate in a certain way (e.g. telepathy), and humans are the first intelligent species they've encountered that has the pesky requirement of audiovisual clues. They're just as busy trying to figure out how to talk to us as we are, but they're much more patient. 2. Perhaps their preferred method of space exploration and conquest is to wait until the indigenous species figures out how to communicate with them. Only then will they accept the indigenous species as worthy of participating in the Galactic Republic or whatever. If they wait a certain amount of time and we still can't talk to them, they'll either abandon us, exterminate us, or try again in another million years. 3. Perhaps their ship is in distress and stranded on Earth, with their Universal Translator broken and the aliens all cooped up in one room that still contains their atmosphere.
- ntelson1s 10y agoJust saw it today. Number 2 is the reason.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- joering2 10y agoNot necessarily. We sent man to the moon but can we communicate with Ants?
- simonh 10y agoIf we did (and we do understand a fair bit about chemical trails and contact signals), would the ants even know they were communicating with something that isn't another ant free m the same colony? Do they even have a mental model of other ants or even their own colony?
- Afforess 10y agoI've seen Arrival, so minor spoilers. (rot 13) Gur nyvraf ner sne qvssrerag sebz hf, jvgu n aba-cubargvp ynathntr gung vaibyirf "abayvarne haqrefgnaqvat bs gvzr". V chg gung va dhbgrf orpnhfr gur rssrpgf ner qrzbafgengrq va gur svyz, ohg vgf vapbzcyrgryl haqrefgbbq, ol obgu gur punenpgref naq zlfrys (gur nhqvrapr), cebonoyl vagragvbanyyl. Fhssvpr gb fnl, jvgubhg n tenfc bs gur shgher, gnyxvat gb gur nyvraf vf qvssvphyg. Gur havirefr gur svyz vf va vf qrgrezvavfgvp, fb lbh unir gb or noyr gb haqrefgnaq fbzr cneg bs gur shgher fgngr bs gur havirefr gb zbir sebz gur cnfg fgngr gb gur cerfrag fgngr. If that doesn't make sense, go see the movie. ;)
- _greim_ 10y agoThe answer to this is a spoiler. (Gur nyvraf' checbfr ba Rnegu vf gb grnpu hf gurve ynathntr. Vg'f fhpu na nqinaprq ynathntr gung bapr lbh yrnea gb guvax va vg, lbh tnva gur novyvgl gb rkcrevrapr gvzr aba-yvarneyl. Gur nyvraf jnag uhznavgl gb havgr, yrnea gur ynathntr naq tnva guvf cbjre, fvapr, rkcrevrapvat gvzr aba-yvarneyl gurzfryirf, gurl'ir creprvirq fbzr pngnpylfz uhznavgl pna/jvyy fnir gurz sebz va gur qvfgnag shgher.)
- schoen 10y agoInterestingly, the "nyvraf' checbfr" part of this is an innovation of the movie that is explicitly not present in Ted Chiang's story.
- spiraldancing 10y agoI've seen the movie. It is the best--and most realistic--"first contact" movie I've ever seen. I have nits to pick with some of the details, but they're minor. You're specific complaint is a valid one, but is (I believe) satisfactorily explained in the movie.