Say we get a message in the form of a letter from an extraterrestrial being. How do we know what it says? There is no way to decode a foreign language like that! I would start with picking out the most frequently occuring and vowels. BUT they might not need vowels? Any ideas?

If that happened, I bet the letter would be written with some kind of math or pictures. If the aliens are smart enough to get us a letter, they would have to understand that is the easiest way to communicate. What do you think?

It would probably be in the same form as our offical letter to ETs. With the image of a man and woman waving and a diagram of our solar system with a map on how to get to earth etc.

We have some of the best and smartest minds here on earth.
I'm sure we would find a codebreaker who could dismantle the langugae.

yeah but did we ever unlock any animal language? no so I dout we would unlock it. maybe crop circles are messages?

I don't think the aliens would be so stupid to think we can decode their language. They are obviously WAY ahead of us so they will decode our most common language (english, doh) and write us... Though I seriously doupt their way of communication in the beginning would be a letter...

Fallingalien, animals (most of them atleast) don't have a language. If a dog barks it doesn't mean he is telling him something like we do when we talk to eachother. He is just trying to scare the other dog in defence of its territory or something like that... So no language - no decoding.

I am guessing that written messages will be in a pictographic/hiroglyphic image...maybe something that utilized both pictures and mathmatics.

what about birds? they chirp alot



maybe they will use sign language

What if they are like some insects and animals...and use smells?

Probably any 'universal' language would be based on things that are constant throughout the universe, like mathematics or scientific formulae, rather than languages, which we've just invented for our own convenience.

I saw an interesting concept on a TV show once. A library was discovered where a number of alien races held meetings and on the walls and iin holograms was a number of models that symbolized elements of the periodic table. That could be a very good basis for communication.

I agree with Burns.. It would more than likely be with some form of picture...

That's not exactly correct. Using dogs as an example, they do have different barks for different messages. For instance there is a specific type of bark that means "Stranger Alert!". The same with birds. Listen sometime to the many different calls of bluejays. They have a whole repertoire of calls with specifics meaning such as "Lot's of food here" or "Danger!". There has been a lot of scientific research on the "language" of animals.

If aliens were to attempt to communicate in writing, I'd think they'd try to keep it simple for us and use symbols that would be simple for us to decipher.....or they may even communicate to us in our own language if it meant that much to them.

And what if it arrived 'postage due'?!!!

People of earth.
We are an intelligent species originating from several hundred light-years away. We are writing to you in order to announce our arrival in this part of the galaxy. Please make fifty copies of this letter and mail them to the nearest solar systems.

Sincerely,
*o0/|\^*o*II~

As 747400 said, if they were to write us a 'letter', it's dubious it would be in a 'language' as such. With so many languages (and even sub-languages) on earth, it's insane (and a tad pompous) to guess which one they'd choose.
If they DID write, it'd probably be in something that's more universal; ie - formulas/symbolic pictures etc.

The most logical form of such communication would be mathmatical.
All setient should know math or they would never get that far.
It is something surely universal.
All else has too much variation from specie to specie.
But one cannot deny * ** *** **** *****
** **** ******** ****************

but what if its like enders game.

I have to disagree in part with this. Any combination of sounds and tones that are used to convey a message- whether it's a whimper, or a bark and a growl can be costrued to be a language. Since such sounds are used by animals to communicate to each other danger, etc, it is their language.

Sea mammals such as Dolphins and Whales have an extensive vocabular of clicks, whistles and tones to communicate in the water.

Sorry... Animals do have a language.

As for an written ET language. It would take time, but eventually, it would be translated once patterns of symbols, spaces, etc are seen and understood as part of their grammar.

Of course- having a Rosetta Stone of sorts would help.

If the aliens were of superior intelligence, they probably hear us communicating with one another just as we hear birds and grasshopppers, so they wouldn't bother trying to communicate with us, but would just try training us for their circuses.

As long as they don't probe me I would perform willingly for free in their circus.

They'd have to offer me coffee too...

But what's the fun in being an alien if you don't get to probe the humans? hehe

With my being a Non-Corpreal Being at the time of this writing... there's nothing on me for them to probe...

I think like this: if we get letters from outer space written in a foreign language, contact experts and use hyper modern technology... or use your brain if you got one!

Moore's Law indicates that available computing power doubles every 18 months. So what is considered adequate encryption today probably won't be sufficient a few years from now simply because faster computers will be available, and encryption will be deciphered more quickly.

However our Decryption experts work from from a foundation of past code cracking, It took MI5 months to crack PGP and even then it was accidental.

It would be impossible to crack a code from another galaxy without having a large element of guess work involved to get to the final outcome.

Let us not forget that most of these "sightings" involve craft that seemingly defy our 'universal' laws of physics and gravity. Not to mention that, unless these creatures have ridiculously long lifespans, they have unlocked the secrets of efficient interstellar travel without the need for combustible, liquid fuels.

You are talking about a species on an entirely different plane in every sense of the word, both mentally and scientifically. Maybe our "math" is so simple that it is under their radar.

If you wanted to talk to an ant, for example...you sure as heck wouldnt try to figure out his ant-speak first. You would just yell at him.

GWH- Kinda like what most people do when they're touring a foreign country, eh?

Exactly!

"Maybe if I shout louder and slower, they'll get it!"

"IM...LOOKING....FOR...MCDONALDS...COMRADE!"

Not true, dogs have several different barks and such that mean different things, this can be counted as a language.

If a dog makes a whining sound, do you think that's trying to scre something away? If it growls at you when you play tug of war? If different activities are used for different things, I think that should be counted as a language.

Chimpanzee's use body language (lips curled for aggression and so-forth).

As to the thread; I doubt it would be in any language. For all we know, ET's have no written language at all, no way of writing their ideas down and such. If they do, it's most likely in the form of pictures, for something we could understand anyway.

Just because we have something on Earth, doesn't mean they use it. We have so many languages on this planet, but they all originated from one ancestor. They could use something different than language that we haven't thought of yet. We have no reason to believe they communicate with eachother in any known or thought of way.

Those were the most intelligent things I've ever said... And the last thing is kind of confusing...

If an advanced intelligent race decided to communicate to us, they would make sure that we understand what they have to say.

Lets say that a race wanted to communicate to us. The best and most effective way for them to deliever a message would be through us.
Another human can communicate on our level just fine.

So, lets say that a long, long time ago a race contacted primitive humans. They wrote a book about the gods that fly - The Bible.
Now, we have problems interpreting this alien book; but not becase the aliens made it into code, not because they want us to interpret it, but because people back then were primitive and they did not communicate the way we do today. That is why the Bible is like a code of some sort.

Im sorry, but I see "Bible" and "code" and I think Dan Brown and my browser shuts down immediately.

p.s. Read the Bible. It is nothing like a code, merely a work of genius, religious or not, that speaks to humanity and the human condition throughout time. I see nothing code-like involved...nor is there ANYTHING to suggest it was written by Stitchen-esque aliens.

Haha, are you serious? Thats just asking to get attacked. Was there a sign saying 'Blow us up' along with it?

How many animals have wroten a letter?

Crop circles appear to be natural anomalies.

Nope

In the 2005 Crop Circle Calendar (traditional sacred Mayan Tzolkin - chrono theory), given by my Tour Guide earlier on this year, there are methods used to interpret the meaning behind these complex formations in Wiltshire. The Mayan theory is used to help gain access to the messages behind Crop Circles, and it appears that there is a very very strong indication that these messages are conveyed with much deeper understanding rather than just 'animals' and 'natural anomalies'.

I will copy out the information given in this special Calendar to help clear this confusion about crop circles.

'Symbols and Cycles

We are living in a period of unprecedented rapid change and expanding enlightenment. The Crop Circle formations reflect this each year and their references to ancient symbols in their designs are, to many of us, an invitation to study their meaning. On 3rd of June in 2001, a 260ft wheel formation with Mayan characters appeared at Wakerley Woods in Northamptonshire. It had eighteen spiral G symbols (one of which is reversed) which are central to ancient Mayan spiritual teaching and indicate our place of origin in the Milky Way. Could all this be related to the ending of the present great cycle of 26,000 years in 2012? The ancient Mayans of Central America understood the magnitude of this important event and recorded cosmic cycles of time over thousands of years with precise acuracy. One of the important legacies they left us is thier sacred calendar called the Tzolkin or loom of Maya. This harmonic module bears the code of the galactic harmonic, a hologram of the operating principles of the galaxy, a key left behind to unlock our understanding of other dimensions. The 260 day Tzolkin and the 26,000 year Great Cycle are fractals of each other and can provide us with a 'road map' out of the current materialistic meltdown.

An historic new calendar format

To enable us to begin working with this 'cosmic road map', we have taken a historic first step in over laying the 12 month Gregorian calendar with the 260 day sacred Tzolkin, thus providing deeper insights into the energies of each day and attuning us with the natural rhythms of Earth and Cosmos. Be aware now of embracing a thirteen day cycle in your life, repeating twenty times. The 260-day cycle begns again. Deep within our cellular memory and encoded in our physical body, we hold the knowledge of these harmonic codes. The sacred number 13 gives us movement with our thirteen main limb joints, and the sacred number twenty expresses the measure with our twenty fingers and toes. We are the embodiment of the Cosmos, and at present we stand on the threshold of enormous changes. Now is the moment to bring this higher knowledge through to our conscious awake state. Since the days of Pope Gregory 13th in the late 16th century, humanity has followed an artificial time with a twelve-month year and a 60 minute clock. Disconnected from the natural rhythms of both Earth and Cosmos we have become over dependent on an industrial mechanistic system that now threatens our very survival. We are literally running out of time and everyone is short of it. This new format calendar offers us all a bridge out of the growing planetary crisis.

Understanding the Tzolkin

Referring to the Tzolkin diagram we can see thirteen vertical columns representing movement and twenty horizontal columns representing measure. On the left hand side of the first column are the 20 sun Glyphs, each one representing a unique pulse of the sun. We were all born under the energy of one of these sun symbols and of one of the 13 tones of movement. Your birthday lies in one of those sacred squares! The 52 dark green squares are portal days . These highly charged days give access to higher dimensional levels. the dots and bars in the squares refer to the very simple Mayan counting system, a dot is equal to one and a bar is equal to five. The squares have also been numbered 1 to 260 to help locate any day reference from the calendar. The Tzolkin begins its flow at the top left hand corner and continues its journey downwards repeating 1 to 13 and starting again at the top of the second column and so on, until reaching 260 on the far right bottom square (our present position in time) which is 13 sun (Ahau).

Tones one to five are the planning and preparation period. Tones six to eleven are the action and completion stages. Twelve is for reviewing and future planning. Tone thirteen is renewal, rest and recharge for the next cycle. Our moon functions to the rhythm of thirteen, orbiting the Earth thirteen times in a solar year. When we plan our daily routine and life goals riding the wave of thirteen, we embrace the natural synchronicity of the Universe. Energy flows to meet us as we merge with both Earth and Cosmos. Remember tone one (one dot over the symbol) always indicates the beginning of a new wave.'


That was a lot of typing lol!

Maybe they'll use tongue clicking like the bushmen of Africa? That'd be really cool!



Their language probably doesn't have different symbols for english letters. Their written language may be similar to that of Chinese(40,000+ characters!) or Japanese, where they have basic characters, but also have more complicated characters that can be used in place of the basic characters for ease of writing.

I think they will communicate by sending a big explosive device...you don't need any skills to get that message....

why send such messege, we're getting it without any help anyway

personaly i think they would write in some ancient civilization language, and if we cant decifer it,then we're too stupid and not worth comunicating with at all

How many animals communicate with eachother? Language doesn't have to be written down. Whales have their songs, dolphins have their clicking, dogs have barking, and birds have their whistling, chirping, whooing, all that.

Appear to be, but things are not always as they seem....