Introduction

The idea of the existence of life with intelligence in some parts of the world is very old and can

be traced back to writings of Metrodorus of Chios and Lucretius in the fifth century BC. This

idea originated from the intuitive beliefs in the enormity of the universe and in the mediocrity

principle (‘there is nothing unique about the sun, the earth and the human race’). Questions on

extraterrestrial life are as old as historical civilizations. The modern era of SETI (Search for

Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) can be traced to starting in 1959. In 1959, Cornell physicists

Giuseppi Cocoon and Philip Morrison published an article in ‘Nature’. The article was about

how microwave radiations could be used to communicate between the stars.

Currently, the SETI Institute is focusing on project Phoenix while the SETI league is

concentrating on project Argus. The aim of the two projects is to identify evidence of

intelligence elsewhere in the world by searching for microwave signals. So far, the efforts of

SETI of scanning the skies to get signals of alien intelligence have not been successful. The

major question remains on how to communicate with an alien civilization upon the detection of

the signals.

Communicating with Alien Intelligence

There are several approaches to communicating with alien civilization that have been suggested

by different scientists. The approaches include musical and mathematical methods of

communication. The main challenge is communicating the details about humanity to the aliens.

However, more strategies are being developed such as the one outlined in a seminal study led by

Douglas Vakoch from METI International. The new strategy utilizes an algorithmic approach to

explain the idea of altruism by drawing analogies between social and astrophysical phenomena.
For instance, the loss of human life and health can be connected to a known astrophysical

phenomenon of mass loss in stars during evolution.

In 1974, scientists tried to send a message to extraterrestrials by beaming the Arecibo radio

message to the globular cluster M13. Even if the message could have reached the intended target

at higher resolutions, there are high doubts if the aliens could decode the message sent. Without

having an idea of the message sent, it would be difficult for humans and aliens to communicate

with each other. The cultural background of humans aliens differ thus posing a challenge in the

process of sending messages. However, scientists have come up with different approaches of

communicating with the aliens despite the differences in the cultural background. In 1980s,

Vilmos Csanyi and Gyorsy Kampis from Eotvos University in Hungary proposed that direct and

meaningful communication with extraterrestrial intelligence is more effective.

Face to face communication with aliens maybe is more convenient and easier in the future.

However, direct communication might be very challenging and difficult to implement due to the

differences that exist between humans and aliens. Human beings communicate mainly through

language by utilizing sound waves in a very narrow range. However, this type of communication

doesn’t work in all animals in the planet. The primary way of communication for dogs is smell.

Squids and cuttlefish communicate by changing their skin color, texture, posture and

movements. In the case of dolphins, they ‘talk’ through whistling and clicking.

If scientists try to make contact, it might be very hard to effectively communicate with intelligent

aliens as portrayed in the movie ‘Arrival’. In addition, researchers have not come up with ways

to successfully communicate dolphins which is an intelligent species related to humans. Humans

cannot even decode some ancient languages from the ancient times. Assuming the intelligent
aliens wants to communicate and visits humans; it shows that they have more superior

technology. Making contact with them is most likely to be on their terms. According to some

science fiction story, they may choose to land on the White House lawn. Their mode of contact

might amuse humans and may not be according to the humans’ expectations.

Common experiences with Aliens

According to a study made by scientists of University of Oxford, Aliens and humans are

potentially shaped by similar processes and mechanisms such as natural selection. It supports the

idea that foreign life forms undergo natural selection, and are like us, evolving to be fitter and

stronger over time. While movies may describe aliens as huge burly monsters or green coloured

creatures, a current research by the University of Oxford has proposed that humans could have

more in common with our alien neighbors than previously imagined (New Delhi). A research

presented in the International Journal of Astrobiology recently by scientists from UK-based

University of Oxford describes for the first time how evolutionary theory can be help in

supporting alien predictions and improved understanding of their behavior.

.Sam Levin, who is a researcher in Oxford’s Department of Zoology, explains that a

“fundamental task for astrobiologists (those who study life in the cosmos) is thinking about what

extra-terrestrial life might be like." Prediction on aliens is very difficult to make, for example,

life on earth as a base of in the human understanding. In the field of astrobiology, the main

approaches have been mechanistic; utilizing what is available on earth and human knowledge on

chemistry, geology and physics to make predictions about aliens. “In our paper, we offer an

alternative approach, which is to use evolutionary theory to make predictions that are

independent of Earth’s details. This is a useful approach...," Levin added. The study explained
that extraterrestrial evolution is catered for by using the idea of alien natural selection as a

framework.

.Events known as transitions have resulted to increased species complexity on earth. For

example, transitions take place when a group of different organisms change into higher-level

organisms, when cells develop to multi-cellular organisms. The study also suggested that both

empirical and theory data propose that extreme conditions are necessary for major transitions to

happen. In addition, the study makes predictions about the biological structure of complex aliens

and “what they might look like”. Meanwhile, Levin agrees that they still can’t determine whether

aliens will walk on two legs or have big green eyes, but they believe evolutionary theory

provides a unique additional tool for trying to understand what aliens will be like. “We have

shown some examples of the kinds of strong predictions we can make with it. By predicting that

aliens (have) undergone major transitions—which is how complexity has arisen in species on

earth, we can say that there is a level of predictability to evolution that would cause them to look

like us," he said. “There are potentially several habitable planets in our galaxy alone. We can’t

say whether or not we’re alone on Earth, but we have taken a small step forward in answering, if

we’re not alone, what our neighbors are like," he added.

Communicating effectively without common reference frame

If humans succeed in making contact with intelligent space aliens, will we be able to understand

them? Earthlings use a language in the form of spoken and written words while aliens might use

numbers, shapes, tones or other forms to communicate. The main question is if human beings

will be able to respond to the aliens and the information that can be conveyed. Sheri Wells-

Jensen is a linguist at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Wells-Jensen is also a leader in
an emerging field that some call alien linguistics though she’s quick to point out that the term is

a bit inappropriate because alien language do not exist. Recently, Mach’s Denise Chow

interviewed Jensen about the steps to be taken for humans to be able to transfer information

effectively with extraterrestrials and whether the 2016 movie “Arrival” provides an accurate

illustration of an alien encounter. To ensure there is clarity and conciseness, edits have been

made on the interview. Mach believes that the idea of making contact with aliens is majorly a

science fiction. However, when did it become clear among linguists and other experts that we

should think seriously about how we might communicate with extraterrestrials? According to

Jensen, people used to gaze up into the sky and go, "Oh, stars. They're lovely. Wouldn't it be nice

if someone were looking back at us and hoping that we're here?" Today, humans are aware of the

existence of habitable planets. You could point to a particular star and comment: "There is a

habitable planet in that star. Are there persons living there?" That provides a varied emotional

distinction. If you can identify a place and inquire, “does intelligence exist in that place?" It's a

whole different question than "I wonder if this could possibly, maybe, somehow, imaginably be

true?"

Alien’s linguistics is the discipline of getting ready. If something marvelous is going to happen,

and you have the idea that the marvelous thing is afoot, you can just sit back and think, “We'll

get a call, we'll get a message, and it’ll be fantastic.” Or you could lay some groundwork. What

we're doing now is kind of taking our responsibility as scientists seriously, and doing some of the

preparatory work that we are capable of doing now which isn't a lot, but there are things we can

do to get ready. Our responsibility is to make intellectual, emotional, ethical, spiritual

preparations for what's to come. We experience language, we use it every day, and I continue to

think about it. I can tell you about its relative complexity as compared to other forms of
communication from other species on Earth. I can tell you things about what language does. But

the definition of language is a social object, not a scientific object. Mostly, people know

language when they experience it (real language) as separate from communication. Lots of

animals communicate. My cat communicates with me very clearly, and instructs me with what I

am to do, very clearly. But she does not have language, and the line between communication and

language feels mushy until I say to my cat: "Hello how was your day? Please tell me three things

that you did that amused you today." And she just, you know, does the food meow back. So the

exact borders between communication and language feel mushy, but we know when we

experience one or the other.

Aliens may try to make contact with humans however their way of communication is very

distinct from that of humans. Linguistics should try making efforts to understand the information

that the aliens try to convey. This suggests that there will be a face to face conversation which is

probably not how it will take place. Humans are most likely to make use of radio signals to

communicate with aliens. Apparently, this sounds discouraging. In the White House lawn

situation everybody is interested in the saucer and the radio signals feel like a distant second

best. However, the radio signal proving that we are not alone would rock everybody’s world. But

the medium doesn’t matter much; swirls of color, vocalizations, hand or tentacle gestures as long

as two things are available.

First, a learnable language which humans might not possess because of how alien they are. There

are two hypotheses in learnable language: the people who think that for a language to be

considered a language, it will have similar features to their own, so they could learn it. Other

people perceive that alien bodies and environmental settings are drastically distinct from human

environment and this might lead to the differences in the language and so un-learnable.
Secondly, humans and aliens need a common context to begin learning each other’s words.

Linguist relies on context in situations where there is need of learning new languages. If I lack

knowledge of a particular language, I walk towards you and change my facial expression and

point to an apple. An individual would have an idea that I’m interested in the word for apple. So

you’d say “apple,” and if I repeated it, you’d respond “apple” again. Thus, both parties would get

the idea if they understood that the main goal of the game playing is language learning. If there is

lack of an agreement in the outcome of the game, you might think the apple is some form of a

threat or using the apple to describe the shape of my hands. Both parties have to accept to learn

the languages and give simple and short responses. The thing a linguist can bring to this situation

is perhaps first to have some beginning of an understanding about all the many, many ways this

can go wrong and be alert to as many of these as possible. The other thing is that a linguist is

trained to conduct a systematic exploration of the language, figure out how sentences are put

together, logically explore vocabulary and syntax and search out ways in which the rules of

conversation might lead us to misunderstand one another.

There is a possibility an alien civilization has attempted contacting us but we could not interpret

it. If they attempted to communicate with us in the 1770s before we had radio, they would have

gotten no response. The main idea of Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence or METI is that in

the case of a conversation, earth and aliens say hello. SETI is mainly for aliens to say “hello,”

and METI is Earth saying “hello.” The main idea is to join the conversation between earth and

aliens. Some people are against the idea of making contact with aliens because they fear that

aliens may be hostile in case they exist. It's really important to take ethical reservations on this

very seriously, because we're all kind of together, dealing with the possibilities
The movie “Arrival” provides a realistic illustration of how a linguist might try to communicate

with aliens. It is a popular film that is loved by everybody. Everybody envies to be Amy Adams

who plays the part of a linguistic and learns how to communicate with aliens. The scenes where

she was doing the fieldwork, where she was faced with the barrier of lack of common language.

Pointing to things, picking things up and showing people things are also ways of communication.

Languages can be represented in different forms; pictorially or auditorially.

Humans have been faced with the challenge of choosing the information to convey to alien

civilization. It's difficult to converse with unfamiliar people. Humans are not good at

communicating with each other because we don’t consider the needs of others. Sometimes there

exists communication failure because we struggle to communicate. In some cases, the

information passed to others might be misunderstood while trying to communicate with others.

Humans would send messages such as listing the prime number to indicate their existence on

earth. So I would just like to say that there is intelligence here, and make my message as simple

as possible with the expectation that there will be a response.

Impacts of aliens being more technologically advanced

Discovery of several habitable planets around stars in the Milky Way galaxy has led to questions

on why there is no evidence for an alien civilization. Enrico Fermi is a physists who inquired on

the whereabouts of everyone. According to research, 'Oumuamua’ was the first interstellar object

to be located. The appearance was oddly extended as might be anticipated from an alien probe; it

does not seem to operate and is radio-silent below the level of a single cell phone. A signal from

an alien civilization might be indirect or complicated, but the frustrating quietness of the sky may
also show that long-lasting extra stellar civilizations do not use technologies that would make

them viewable to our telescopes.

According to past experience, we anticipate that civilizations much older than ours will be

scientifically acute and thus advanced in terms of technology. However, there is a possibility that

an uncomplicated lifestyle instead scientific growth has influenced the political landscape on

other planets, resulting to old civilizations that are nevertheless technologically basic. Fermi’s

paradox can be explained the exoplanet politics. Human history provides a possibility that in the

case of a distinct political scenario, our planet could have continued to be occupied by the anti-

scientific attitudes of the middle Ages. Such a situation is thinkable over a period of time of

thousands of years, although the probability that it would last over several years is unpredictable.

Maybe Earth was fortunate to experience technology advancement (in the spirit of the

novel Origin by Dan Brown). Environmental or political calamities could have certainly diverted

the evolutionary changes.

Or maybe the existence period of civilization on Earth will emerge to be more concise than it

would have been in case humans maintained to be technologically undeveloped. Technology

creates long-term uncertainties to our future in terms of climate variations and nonconventional

(nuclear, biological or chemical) hostilities. In this case, the surfaces of other planets will show

either relics of technologically advanced civilizations that destroyed themselves in self-inflicted

catastrophes or living civilizations that are technologically primitive. We could search for the

remnants of technological civilizations from afar. But if we detect nothing through our

telescopes, the only way to find out whether long-lived civilizations are technologically primitive

is to visit their planets. Astrosociology could become a particularly exciting frontier of

exploration as we venture into space.

Traditional astronomers would argue that it is much less expensive to remotely observe distant

planets than to launch a probe that will visit them. But remote observing can only detect

civilizations that transmit electromagnetic signals, change the planet’s atmosphere through

industrial pollution, or leave artifacts on the planet’s surface such as photovoltaic cells, industrial

infrastructure, artificial heating or artificial illumination. If the aliens do not dramatically modify

their natural habitat or transmit artificial signals, we will be forced to visit their home planets in

order to uncover their existence. Civilizations on other worlds might mesh seamlessly with their

natural environment for a variety of reasons. At a minimum, camouflage is a natural survival

tactic, so alien civilizations might prefer to appear indistinguishable from other forms of life,

such as vegetation. One could also imagine a civilization so intelligent that it deliberately keeps a

low-key technological profile to sustain its biosphere, maintaining a lifestyle reminiscent of

Henry Thoreau on Walden Pond. The only way to find these extraterrestrials would be to send

probes that visit their planets and report back.

The first significantly funded project to visit another planetary system, Breakthrough Starshot,

was inaugurated in 2016. Starshot aims to reach the nearest stars within a couple of decades.

Since even Proxima Centauri is 4.24 light years away, this necessitates a technology capable of

accelerating a spacecraft to at least a fifth of the speed of light. The only suitable concept

involves a lightweight sail (to which the payload is attached) pushed by a powerful beam of

light. The downside of reaching such a high speed with this design is that braking near the target

planet is not feasible without a similar light-beamer there.

Visiting the surface of another planet therefore requires slower speeds and longer travel times.

For example, conventional rockets would bring us to the nearest stars within hundreds of

thousands of years. This might still be appealing from a theoretical perspective, since this
timescale is tens of thousands times shorter than the age of the Universe. Over the billions of

years available to our technological civilization to explore the Milky Way, we could compile a

sociological census of billions of exoplanets. And even if we find mostly faith-based alien

cultures instead of advanced infrastructure that would accelerate our own technological

development, it would be fascinating to explore the diversity of galactic interpretations of the

concept of God.

What 'Arrival' g