[jzl]

Me: I'm writing off this article if it doesn't mention 'Arrival'.

Liu told me that first contact would lead to a human conflict, if not a world war. This is a popular trope in science fiction. In last year’s Oscar-nominated film Arrival, the sudden appearance of an extraterrestrial intelligence inspires the formation of apocalyptic cults and nearly triggers a war between world powers anxious to gain an edge in the race to understand the alien’s messages.

Ahh, there we go. Thank you.

Long article. I didn't read all of it, but the parts I skimmed were good. I had no idea that China had its own answer to Arecibo.

EDIT: not sure why this is getting downvoted. The title of the post is literally one of the biggest plot points of Arrival. It would have been somewhat tone-deaf to popular culture had the article come out with this title and not mentioned Arrival. And sure enough it did. That was my only point. I wouldn't have made this comment if the post were titled "China's Answer To Arecibo".

[zeofig]

As someone who found Arrival super irritating, I'm afraid I'm "writing off" your comment.

[jzl]

I actually found it really irritating too. I'm not endorsing Arrival. That said, the inter-country politics were by far the most interesting thing about it. And it's a major Hollywood film that literally addresses the question "What Happens If China Makes First Contact?"

[Udik]

> literally addresses the question "What Happens If China Makes First Contact?

It does. And its very deep answer is "the Chinese fuck up because they're a bit dumb, and only thanks to a very bright, young and beautiful American the world is saved, again".

[noja]

Give the film some credit - the "hero" figure was an expert this time, a big step up from "winging it".

[sitkack]

> China had its own answer to Arecibo

Thank god, because we are treating ours like shit.

[jimmcslim]

No, not like 'shit', like 'white dielectric material'.

http://nullbloggers.blogspot.com.au/2008/03/white-dielectric...

[ismail]

My inference on the reason you are being downvotes is, that the main reference in the actual article is to the book the 3 body problem with the author being interviewed. Which you seem to have missed