(no subject)
If anthills or termite colonies were sentient in a way that was comprehensible to humans, they'd have specialist castes for carrying and receiving messages between nests. this would probably be based on smell/pheromones, tho it could be based on movement - eg: bee dances.
We could never communicate with a creature that did not communicate amongst themselves (a sentient ocean, or a worldwide hivemind), because to communicate both parties have to have an understanding of self and other. The most we could do if an alien did not have that would be to introduce messages into the alien's processes. But the alien would not detect it as other, any more than those people who hear voices can accept that the voices are internal, not external (without medication).
We could never communicate with a creature that did not communicate amongst themselves (a sentient ocean, or a worldwide hivemind), because to communicate both parties have to have an understanding of self and other. The most we could do if an alien did not have that would be to introduce messages into the alien's processes. But the alien would not detect it as other, any more than those people who hear voices can accept that the voices are internal, not external (without medication).