Are We Alone In this world? How is their ARRIVAL?

Are we alone in this world? If no, how would the extraterrestrial Arrival be?

A question that has stirred countless theories and just as many media portrayals. At some point, we’ve all wondered: could there be other beings out there—on distant planets or perhaps even among us, hidden in other dimensions?

Cinema has long explored these possibilities, shaping our perceptions of extraterrestrial life. Whether through blockbuster films or series like Stranger Things, we’ve all encountered different narratives about first contact and its potential consequences. But beyond the spectacle of aliens and intergalactic travel, some stories take a deeper, more thought-provoking approach—challenging not just what we think about extraterrestrial life, but how we think at all.

This brings me to Arrival—one of the most intellectually stimulating sci-fi films I’ve seen in a while. Starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner, the movie follows a linguist tasked with deciphering the language of newly arrived extraterrestrial beings known as Heptapods. But the true brilliance of the film isn’t just in its depiction of first contact—it’s in how it explores language as a force capable of reshaping perception, cognition, and even our experience of time.

As a scientist, I’m no linguist, but I do know that in science, the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. If something cannot be disproven, its possibility—however small—still lingers. The same applies to knowledge itself.

What if encountering a completely different form of communication could expand the way we perceive reality?

The Power of Language: Reshaping Time and Thought in Arrival

One of the film’s most fascinating ideas is the Heptapods’ writing system—circular, nonlinear, setting it apart from most modern languages, which rely on a sequential structure. While we structure sentences in a linear progression of past, present, and future, their language suggests they perceive time as a whole. To them, time isn’t something that moves forward—it simply is.

This concept aligns with the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which suggests that the language we use shapes our perception of reality. If our way of speaking and thinking is deeply tied to time’s forward flow, what happens when we encounter a language structured entirely differently? Arrival takes this idea to the extreme: by learning the Heptapods’ language, the protagonist doesn’t just understand their words—she begins to think like them, experiencing time as they do.

The Neuroscience Behind Arrival’s New Way of Thinking

From a neuroscientific perspective, adapting to such a radical linguistic structure would engage multiple cognitive processes. The prefrontal cortex, responsible for abstract thought and problem-solving, would be intensely active in processing this unfamiliar system. Meanwhile, the hippocampus—key to memory and learning—would play a crucial role in integrating this new way of conceptualizing time.

Even more interestingly, the film’s portrayal of time perception might engage the default mode network (DMN), a brain system linked to introspection, imagination, and mental time travel. This could explain why Arrival doesn’t just introduce an intriguing premise but leaves a lasting cognitive impact—forcing us to reconsider not only how language works but how our minds interpret reality itself.

A Mind-Altering Gift by Their Arrival

As the protagonist learns the Heptapods’ language, she begins to experience visions—fragments of her life appearing out of order, seemingly disconnected. At first, she doesn’t understand them. But eventually, she realizes these aren’t random glimpses—they’re messages from her future self, moments of her marriage and motherhood playing out simultaneously. She isn’t just learning a new language; she’s stepping into a new way of being, one where time no longer moves in a straight line.

And that’s the real magic of Arrival. It’s not just a film about extraterrestrials—it’s about perception, cognition, and the way knowledge itself can shape who we are.

What if understanding a new language could change the way we think? And more importantly—what if it already does?

Let me know what you think.