#@§\\~~¨¨¨ ¨¨¨~~\\§@#
@§=\~~~¨¨¨ ¨¨¨~~~\=§@
&=~¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨~=&
##@&§=\~~¨ ¨~~\=§&@##
#&=\\~¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨~\\=&#
##@&§=\~~¨ #¨¨¨~~~~~~~~¨¨¨# ¨~~\=§&@##
##@&§=\~~¨ ####¨~~ FERMI'S PARADOX ~~¨#### ¨~~\=§&@##
@&§==\~¨¨¨ #¨¨¨~~~~~~~~¨¨¨# ¨¨¨~\==§&@
##@&§=\~~¨ ¨~~\=§&@##
##@&§=\~~¨ ON EARTH (THE PLANET WHERE I LIVE) A ¨~~\=§&@##
##@&§=\~~¨ LOT OF US HAVE ANTENNAS ON OUR HOUSES ¨~~\=§&@##
@§==~~¨¨¨¨ OR BALCONIES, WE HAVE BUILT LARGE ¨¨¨¨~~==§@
##@&§=\~~¨ ANTENNAS FOR LARGER BANDWITH, WE HAVE ¨~~\=§&@##
@@&§=\~¨¨¨ BUILD SPECIALIZED ANTENNAES FOR ¨¨¨~\=§&@@
&§§§\~¨¨¨¨ SPECIFIC WAVELENGTHS (AND SENT THEM ¨¨¨¨~\§§§&
###@&§\~~¨ INTO ORBIT), WE'VE BUILT LARGE AS FUCK ¨~~\§&@###
#&&&§=\~~¨ ANTENNA ARRAYS ¨~~\=§&&&#
##@&§=\~~¨ WE'VE VIRTUALLY BUILT AN ANTENNA WITH A ¨~~\=§&@##
##@&§=\~~¨ DISH AS LARGE AS EARTH. ¨~~\=§&@##
##@&§=\~~¨ ¨~~\=§&@##
##@&§=\~~¨ WE'VE LEARNED ABOUT OUR POSITION IN THE ¨~~\=§&@##
#@@&§=\~~¨ SOLAR SYSTEM, OUR SOLAR SYSTEMS ¨~~\=§&@@#
###@&§=\~¨ PLACEMENT IN THE GALAXY, AND OUR ¨~\=§&@###
##@&§=\~~¨ GALAXYS PLACEMENT IN THE LOCAL CLUSTER, ¨~~\=§&@##
@&&&§=\~~¨ AND ~OUR~ LOCAL CLUSTERS PLACE IN THE ¨~~\=§&&&@
#@&&§=\~~¨ GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS ¨~~\=§&&@#
##@&§=\~~¨ ¨~~\=§&@##
##@&§=\~~¨ AND WE'RE MOVING AROUND THE SUN AT ¨~~\=§&@##
##@&§=\~~¨ VELOCITY AND THE SUNS MOVING AROUND THE ¨~~\=§&@##
##@&§=\~~¨ CENTER OF THE GALAXY AT VELOCITY AND ¨~~\=§&@##
@§§§§=\~~¨ THE GALAXY IS MOVING TOWARD ANDROMEDA ¨~~\=§§§§@
##@&§=\~~¨ AND WE'RE BOTH MOVING ANTICLOCKWISE ¨~~\=§&@##
@§=\\~¨¨¨¨ AROUND THE GALAXY. AND WE AS A SPECIES ¨¨¨¨~\\=§@
##@&§=\~~¨ HAVE LEARNED TO TAKE ALL THAT IN ACCOUNT ¨~~\=§&@##
&&§\~¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨~\§&&
##@&§=\~~¨ AND DESPITE ALL THIS, DESPITE ALL OUR ¨~~\=§&@##
&§§\\\~¨¨¨ (CLICHE) BEAMING OF FUCKING STELLAR ¨¨¨~\\\§§&
##@&§=\~~¨ RADIO PROGRAMMES OUT IN FUCKING SPACE ¨~~\=§&@##
@@§§§=\~~¨ AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT (LIGHT IS OUR ¨~~\=§§§@@
&==\~¨¨¨¨¨ MEDIUM! GOODSPEED YOU, BLACK EMPEROR!), ¨¨¨¨¨~\==&
##@&§=\~~¨ DESPITE GHOSTS HELPING AND THE ¨~~\=§&@##
##@&§=\~~¨ COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS LOWPASS ¨~~\=§&@##
##@&§=\~~¨ FILTERING, DESPITE OUR VERY OBVIOUS ¨~~\=§&@##
&&§\~~¨¨¨¨ BEAMING OF ALL OUR SECRETS IN EVERY ¨¨¨¨~~\§&&
#&&&§=\~~¨ DIRECTION KNOWN TO US, ¨~~\=§&&&#
##@&§=\~~¨ ¨~~\=§&@##
@§=\~~¨¨¨¨ NO ¨ ONE ¨ HAS ¨ ANSWERED ¨¨¨¨~~\=§@
##@&§=\~~¨ ¨~~\=§&@##
##@&§=\~~¨ #¨¨¨~~~~~~~~¨¨¨# ¨~~\=§&@##
#@@&§=\~~¨ ####¨~~ FERMI'S PARADOX ~~¨#### ¨~~\=§&@@#
#@@&§=\~~¨ #¨¨¨~~~~~~~~¨¨¨# ¨~~\=§&@@#
@&=~~¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨~~=&@
###@&=\~~¨ SO WHY IS THAT? ¨~~\=&@###
##@&§=\~~¨ ¨~~\=§&@##
##@&§=\~~¨ MOST OPPONENTS TO INTELLIGENT LIFE IN ¨~~\=§&@##
###@§=\~~¨ THE UNIVERSE SAY IT'S BECAUSE YOU NEED ¨~~\=§@###
##@&§=\~~¨ A CLASS ONE-OR-THE-OTHER STAR AND THE ¨~~\=§&@##
###@§=\~~¨ PLANET NEEDS TO BE AT A SEE-AND-SO ¨~~\=§@###
##@&§=\~~¨ DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE STAR (LIKE THERE ¨~~\=§&@##
##@&§=\~~¨ HAS TO BE A PLANET!) ¨~~\=§&@##
##@&§=\~~¨ ¨~~\=§&@##
###@&=\~~¨ BUT REALLY ISN'T THAT KEEPING THE ¨~~\=&@###
##@&§=\~~¨ DEFINITION OF LIFE REALLY LAX? ¨~~\=§&@##
&&==~~¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨~~==&&
@@&§\\\~~¨ I THINK EVERYONE AGREES THAT WE HAVE NO ¨~~\\\§&@@
#&§=\~¨¨¨¨ IDEA WHAT WE'RE DOING (AND IT PROBABLY ¨¨¨¨~\=§&#
###&§=\~~¨ SHOWS) ¨~~\=§&###
##@&§=\~~¨ ¨~~\=§&@##
&§\~¨¨¨¨¨¨ #¨¨¨~~~~~~~~¨¨¨# ¨¨¨¨¨¨~\§&
##@&§=\~~¨ ####¨~~ FERMI'S PARADOX ~~¨#### ¨~~\=§&@##
##@&§=\~~¨ #¨¨¨~~~~~~~~¨¨¨# ¨~~\=§&@##
##@&§=\~~¨ ¨~~\=§&@##
&§\~~¨¨¨¨¨ I'M GONNA GO SMOKE MY THIRD CIGARETTE ¨¨¨¨¨~~\§&
###@§=\~~¨ THIS YEAR AND TRY TO SNATCH SOME BEERS ¨~~\=§@###
##@&§=\~~¨ FROM THE LOCAL BEER THING ¨~~\=§&@##
##@&§=\~~¨ ¨~~\=§&@##
&&&=\~¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨~\=&&&
##@&§=\~~¨ ¨~~\=§&@##
#@@&§=\~~¨ ¨~~\=§&@@#
##@&§=\~~¨ ¨~~\=§&@##