Friday, August 14, 2015

Communicating with aliens

Writing science fiction sure creates some unusual challenges not encountered in everyday life. Maybe that' why I enjoy it so much. How often are you encountered with problems like communicating with an alien race in your day-to-day job? That is the problem I face in my current chapter. Having a few Kevutians literally fall into the laps of a new race of humanoids creates many difficulties but perhaps the greatest is the need to communicate. I came upon the idea that maybe instead learning each other's languages they could use and develop sign language. Since they are both humanoid it would make sense that many of the shapes they can create with their hands might have similarities. My idea was bolstered by a rather unusual source. Keep in mind I am speaking with tongue-in-cheek about this source.

A person named W. H. Mumfrey has put himself forward as being an expert in aliens that have come to Earth and live among us. He goes out of his way to point out that these aliens do not reveal their secrets and yet he has been able to compile a complete book revealing their secrets. Ignoring this inconsistency, let's play along. He has written a book entitled The Alien Invasion Survival Handbook. This book purports to tell us all about the aliens that are planning to invade us poor humans so that we may be better prepared. On his section on language, he tells us that these aliens communicate through "airborne electrical signals." According to Mumfrey, some aliens have actually been captured and are kept in secret research facilities. Evidently they are not much different than monkeys in this case because they have been taught to do sign language in the same way that primates have. Maybe these aliens have just tapped into the Planet of the Apes series on their interstellar Netflix. In any case, the aliens have learned some basic sign language in a short period of time.

I ask you, what better confirmation of my idea could that be??