Time Traveler – Unveiling the core of Arrival’s extraterrestrial language, a pivotal aspect of the film is the profound impact it has. Arrival depicts the visitation of aliens to Earth with the intention of establishing communication with humanity. Diverging from conventional alien invasion narratives, the movie centers around a linguistics professor who instructs the aliens in English while simultaneously learning their language. The professor’s acquisition of the alien language leads to a transformative effect on her brain, granting her glimpses into the future.
Primarily, the mastery of a language enhances cognitive abilities. As previously mentioned, language acquisition contributes to the enhancement of executive functions within the brain. It bolsters the individual’s ability to shift attention between tasks, retain memories, and resolve problems. This phenomenon can be attributed to the crucial period theory, which suggests that children have an easier time acquiring languages due to their developing brains’ flexibility, enabling them to utilize both hemispheres for language acquisition. In contrast, most adults demonstrate lateralization of language in a single hemisphere, typically the left hemisphere.Time Traveler
Furthermore, the concept of time is not always experienced as a linear progression. Neurologist David Eagleman proposes that time is essentially our subjective perception of how long events took. This idea is supported by George Musser in Scientific American, who asserts that our imaginations construct the past, present, and future. He refers to the work of memory researcher Endel Tulving, who describes our ability to recollect the past and envision the future as “mental time travel.” In a notable 2007 study, participants were instructed to recall past events and imagine future scenarios while undergoing an fMRI scan. Remarkably, the same brain regions were activated for both processes, indicating that memory plays a crucial role in generating future scenarios.
Our perception of time can vary, with instances where it feels faster or slower depending on our subjective experience. Eagleman explains that during life-threatening situations, our brains encode memories with greater detail, leading to the perception that the event lasted much longer than it actually did. He suggests that the abundance of vivid details in the memory creates this illusion of an extended duration.
Lastly, the language we use has a profound impact on the culture surrounding us. However, as Discovery News highlights, language does not dictate how we think, but it does have the potential to shape our perspectives. As Philip Perry explains, different cultures exhibit distinct “patterns of metaphor” within their languages, leading to variations in thinking.
More specifically, languages emphasize certain aspects of our experiences based on cultural values. The commonly held belief that Eskimos have numerous words for snow is grounded in linguistic reality. Native speakers of Inuit and Yupik languages, spoken by indigenous communities in the Arctic, possess multiple terms to describe snow, taking into account its location, texture, movement, and other variables.
Time Traveler In contrast, English speakers rely on the word “snow” to encompass a wide range of meteorological situations, textures, and chemical states. Mental Floss notes that the uniqueness of snow to Inuit speakers is not as pronounced as it is for English speakers. By employing specific terminology to describe snow, Inuit speakers assign multiple meanings to it, strengthening its significance within their cultural context.
When these elements intertwine, they provide a perspective that expands the mind, transcends the limitations of time, and shapes one’s culture—a phenomenon reminiscent of Arrival. As Ted Chiang, the author of the novella that served as the inspiration for Arrival, expressed to NPR, “A good explanation holds not only practical value but also beauty.
