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Another side effect of the protagonist gaining a different perspective into the structure of time and reality is the burden foreknowledge. She asserts that even though one knows what will happen, one must act the event into existence in order for it to be a concrete moment. But a reader might wonder how tiresome it would become to anticipate events.

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If learning this language would force you to relinquish, at least partially, the concept of free will, would it be worth it? The main protagonist seems to fade in and out of seeing time from the alien's perspective, but also is aware of her daughter's, and her own, death. Yet she does nothing to change these occurrences, which may imply that there is no choice once the language has been learned. "Similarly, knowledge of the future was incompatible with free will... now that I know the future, I would never act contrary to that future..."

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What if learning a language could change the way in which you perceive time and reality?

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The significance of symbology increases in a non-verbal society: clothes that announce status through color and design, lights that are color-coded for different meanings, naming traditions that are distinct and descriptive, etc. Mist emphasizes the importance of these things when she insults the Earther tourists by saying: "We have heard that your towns are very ugly, lacking color."

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Technology is also built to best serve those who do not use sound, for instance, the flashing light system that announces the arrival of the News Carrier or the approach of the train.

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In this deaf society body language and manners present differently than in a hearing society. This is never more clear than when Mist approaches the group of tourist Earthers. The Earthers do not know that to turn their faces away is the height of rudeness, that one must preface a request with bowing twice or saying please, or that there are customary gestures for things such as saying farewell.

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What cultural, technological, and linguistic differences are present in a deaf society? How is communication impacted when speech is non-verbal?