[Digital Today Choo Hyun-woo] The film 'Project Hail Mary' has been released in South Korea, reigniting debate over whether communication with extraterrestrial life is actually possible. The movie shows the alien "Rocky" and the human "Grace" quickly learning to communicate, but the process would be far more complex in reality, IT outlet Ars Technica said on March 20.

Linguist Betty Berner (버티 버너) said, "Communication is not a simple exchange of words, but a process of understanding each other's cognitive and cultural context." For example, there is no guarantee that the human concept that "up is good and down is bad" would be the same for extraterrestrial life.

The scene in which Grace and Rocky quickly grasp the concept of being "friends" is also not realistic. Berner said, "We cannot communicate perfectly even with people who speak the same language," and added, "Communication with extraterrestrial life would be even more complex."

Science fiction films tend to simplify the complex process of language acquisition to move the story along. But from a linguistic perspective, the core of true communication is "sharing thought," not a simple exchange of words. Some criticism has also emerged that the film did not reflect this sufficiently.

Berner said, "Language is not a simple sign, but a complex system intertwined with emotions, social norms and cultural background." She stressed that for communication with extraterrestrial life to be possible, "a process of understanding each other's systems of thought beyond language is essential."

The film 'Project Hail Mary' stimulates science fiction imagination, but it has limits in exploring the realistic possibility of communication with extraterrestrials. Language is not a simple sign but a complex system that reflects humanity's culture and cognitive characteristics.