Without a doubt its the most in-depth movie about linguistics I've ever seen. And not only is it in-depth about linguistics in general, but specifically about the Sapir Whorf hypothesis which is about the nature of how language is responsible for how we perceive the world around us, and those who learn different languages perceive the world around them. The concept of how time is perceived by different cultures is one of the big central questions in the hypothesis. Without a doubt it is one of the concepts that has generated the most controversy about the hypothesis. There are languages out there which do not make distinctions about grammatical tense. It is one of the great questions in linguistics, how does the brain of a person who grew up not making a distinction about the past present or future differ from someone who grew up always thinking of things in terms of past present and future. And how does that 'innate understanding' effect how they perceive other things in this world?
Because so much of our world is colored by the languages we grow up speaking, the different concepts on linear and nonlinear time are explored heavily in areas outside of linguistics.The circular and non-linear nature of time is something touched upon in Eastern philosophy and religion, especially Hinduism and Buddhism. That was the sort of vibe that I got from the movie. The literal ability to see into the future is a metaphorical gift of accepting the true nature of life.
Without a doubt there is no great big leap in exploring non-linear time within the context of an alien language, the only real obvious leap is making the implication that this would allow someone to see the future. I kind of saw the Universal Language as allowing a sentient being to unlock an already innate ability, as opposed to the language somehow instilling the ability itself. I don't really have a big problem with that part, theres nothing wrong with a little science fiction in our science fiction.
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