....^«\%£#                                          #£%\«^....
.....^«\%£                                          £%\«^.....
......^«\%                                          %\«^......
.......^«\                                          \«^.......
........^«                                          «^........
.......^«\             #...««««««««...#             \«^.......
......^«\%      ####.«« 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         «^........
.......^«\                                          \«^.......
......^«\%                                          %\«^......
.....^«\%£                                          £%\«^.....
....^«\%£#                                          #£%\«^....
...^«\%£##                                          ##£%\«^...