Arrival: Rethinking Communication

Having watched Arrival the other week, a little late I know but for those who haven't I highly recommend it, I was mind blown not by the UFO landing nor the hyped up American military strategies, but rather the microscopic shred of linguistic light that pierced the oblivion of my mind on the subject. As a scholar of intercultural communication, consistently under the assumption of knowing more on the subject than the average Joe, I was yet again thrown off my ridiculous high horse throughout the course of the film. While a number of linguistic basics were touched upon as the story unfolded, one particular scene stood out from the rest, inspiring this blogpost.

With the alien spaceships having landed on 12 locations across the world, each nation races to communicate with the extraterrestrial beings with help from linguists and experts in numerous fields. Louise Banks (played by Amy Adams), an American linguist, discovers that China is using a game to communicate with the aliens. In a state of panic, which I regarded as ridiculous at the time, she explains to the lay-minded individuals around how

'if one were to communicate using chess as a language, which operates in the framework of battles and wars, or victories and loses, as opposed to English for example which focuses on expressing emotions and ideas, how it would significantly alter the message we provide and the action we take'

Before moving on to an analogy of this statement and its direct correlation to communication in the present day, let's talk about porn, because why not. It's hot, it get's attention and it proves my point. Imagine an individual who learnt everything she had to learn about sex through porn. Apart from 'the talk about birds and bees' from parents, which let's be honest most of us never get, let's think of a child who grew up watching porn as the sole source of information on sex. At the beginning she would have spent hours just browsing the content simply because there is so much out there until, she found something she liked. A certain category, type or fetish. Then she would search more related to this category and go to the very dark and deep corners of it. What she observes, learns and likes will reflect on her sexual relationships in the real world. So why is this a problem you ask?

For starts porn isn't sex but rather a form of entertainment and commercialization of the act of sexual pleasures. Often it is a fiction like a movie or a novel. Even when it is natural most vital elements related to sex such as obtaining consent, giving consent, warming up, protection, emotions and so on are over looked. For the consumer it is always about self-gratification and it is fair to say in the real world a sexual relationship solely based on the same would be, disturbing to say the least. However, the world has caught on at least a little bit with this phenomenon and there is a loud discourse in the public sphere about how distorted porn in from the reality and particularly how we need to educate children on if not boycotting porn, then in the least to be smart consumers of it. Schools, parents and activists alike are investing on sex education at least in the more so called 'liberal parts' of the world.

Moving back to Arrival and language, another similarly hazardous phenomenon has been occurring simultaneous which I believe is only now rising to the surface of public attention. That is the ability by which individuals perceive and react to socio-economic issues of the present world. For arguments sake let's take 'the Syrian refugee crisis'. First and foremost in today's world of instant gratification, 6 second attention span and dominance of user generated content, the mechanisms through which individuals obtain information to perceive the world has changed radically. Mainstream media is considered biased and so 2000 and late, and social media appears to be the next best thing. For those who are a little more interested in political issues witty late night talk shows streamed later on netflix fill the void. So the question rises, how does this affect the reality of a child who grows up learning everything she learns about the contemporary world through these alternative hip mechanisms.

So before going down this road the natural first question is what is wrong with these alternative information sources, I mean it's not as if mainstream media or even government outlets provide truly impartial, unbiased information. Well the problem is just like in porn after sometime this child will identify the outlets which echos ideas she likes to hear and makes her feel good. Before she knows it she's trapped in an echo chamber of her own fighting food racism with #'s or voting incompetent individuals to positions of power, all while the real world continues to spasm in confused circles. This is why I believe Arrival came at the best time possible, underlining the need to going back to the basics of intercultural communication, language and humanity itself.

I remember sitting at a conference many years ago in which a panelist advised everyone to read at least 2 newspapers everyday. To paraphrase the gentleman, whatever the media every person should utilize multiple information outlets across the spectrum from left to right, i.e. FOX News, BBC, Al Jazeera (you get the point) as often as possible. This way, no matter how distorted or biased the information maybe you at least obtain multiple views on the Syrian refugee crisis. Perhaps then you will be interested to know what are the actual numbers of refugees that came into Europe? Where did they come from? How many are remaining in Syria and its neighbouring countries? Have crime rate really gone up because of them? Why can't they stay where they are? Then perhaps it will trigger one to think like a data scientist even for a little while and truly comprehend the reality and discuss any concerns and fears, and hopefully suggestions to help the situation in a socially responsible manner.

It is important to remember that while communication technology is consistently evolving, the problems each generation has to solve keep repeating themselves. Economic depressions, immigration, pollution, health issues have remained issues us, our parents, grandparents, their parents and soon our children have to resolve over and over again. Technology is just a tool and always will be, so it is not our phones that have to be smart but rather our understanding of the world. If my opinion on world's most crucial issues are determined by my favourite standup comedian and Instagrammer, and I continue to vote and drive public policy, which in return affects the actual reality and people in it, it is fair to say the equilibrium achieved will be far from, well an equilibrium. So long story short I believe just as Louise did with the aliens, we need to go back to the basics with our children, and adults if it's not too late. It is not about making them raging liberals or weary pluralist, but rather smart thinkers, who develop the skill to holistically perceive the world, raise the right questions, empathize with subjectivity and make well informed decisions, before entering the great big world of #PoliticalChess