In this assignment, we were asked to read an article and record our feelings, now let’s have a look at my thoughts!
After reading the text, I received two questions. I decided to answer them first to show some basic understanding of this article.
- How are the aliens’ language and communication style in the story different from human language (oral, pictographic, phonetic, etc.)?
- How does the physical structure of our body inform the way we communicate? How about the aliens?
To the first question: there is no doubt that the language and communication styles of the aliens in the story and humans are very different. Human language is systematic, and it can be expressed in many ways through speech, writing, posture, and so on. But Heptapods’ language in the article is a visual language that has nothing to do with spoken language (At least humans can’t hear it!), and likewise it can’t write. But it can communicate with its companions using some unique sound waves and limbs (body language). So it can be seen as Heptapods have their own visual syntax to communicate.
To the second question: there are many ways people use their physical structure to communicate, and the most common one is speech (human language). It depends on vocal cord vibrations, and mouth opening and closing to complete the output. In addition, humans can also use gesture and body language to express themselves. What’s more, writing out one’s thoughts is also a way to communicate. But as the article notes, the alien’s physical structure is nothing like ours. Heptapod has an orifice, perhaps a place where it can communicate with its peers. Heptapods can also use their limbs to organize a form of visual language that has nothing to do with spoken language.
(text that show the Heptapods’ physical structure)
Some of my personal thoughts:
In this article, I think it is very amazing that the Heptapods alien “language” is not completely absurd and elusive. On the contrary, through research, this way of extraterrestrial communication conforms to some of the conclusions of modern mathematics and physics, and has a certain scientific nature. Also, it has some historical purposes. This gives this “science fiction” a scientific color. Even extraterrestrial beings have a certain regularity and science in their language and communication. This gives scientists in the article curiosity to continue their investigation, but also gives readers something to think about the universe, extraterrestrial life, science, and the communication between different species.
(text that can show the scientific and historical nature of alien’s language)
An interesting question:
For an interesting question: “Can we humans learn alien language?” The answer, for now, is NO. Throughout the article, the team of scientists has been doing a comprehensive analysis and research on the alien language system and communication methods. The final conclusion is that the alien uses a non-colloquial but visual language system that is completely different from the human language system. Humans are not yet able to communicate directly with aliens. However, the best way to learn a language is to communicate with the native speaker. So due to human beings lack the way to communicate with the aliens, it is not possible to learn the alien language.
(text that confirm this opinion and guessing the theory of alien’s language)
My Notes!
Finally, let’s have a look on my notes!
