Yes yes yes. We read "Story of Your Life" in my Sci-fi reading club, and several people came away with the misunderstanding that the aliens could see the futur

Yes yes yes. We read "Story of Your Life" in my Sci-fi reading club, and several people came away with the misunderstanding that the aliens could see the future or something like that. But your interpretation is correct (IMHO). Chiang was making a point about the subjective nature of consciousness, or at least one aspect of it.