The Fermi Paradox: Where are all the aliens… and why haven’t they even sent us a WhatsApp message?

Imagine this: you’re in the middle of a casual conversation about series, pizza, or how some websites don’t load because some genius at La Liga and Telefónica decided that blocking Cloudflare, Vercel, etc., IPs during match time is a great idea…

And suddenly someone blurts out:
“What if we’re not alone in the universe?”

Awkward silence. Someone laughs nervously. Another pretends to look at their phone.
But you know that question doesn’t go away easily.

That’s how the Fermi Paradox is born, a question as simple as it is devastating.

What is the Fermi Paradox?

The Fermi Paradox arises from a question so simple it’s scary:

“If the universe is so immensely large and old, and life is possible… why haven’t we detected signals from other civilizations?”

It was posed by physicist Enrico Fermi back in 1950 (over coffee with colleagues, like all good ideas). And since then, it’s been the elegant way of saying: Where is everybody?

Some warming-up facts:

• There are over 100 billion galaxies.

• In our galaxy, there are hundreds of billions of stars.

• Many of those stars have planets. And many of those planets could have conditions similar to Earth’s.

In other words, statistically, we should be in the middle of a galactic fair. And yet, not even a measly interplanetary “hello.”

What if we’re alone? Or not?

This is where the theories begin. Some are scary. Others seem written by insomniac science fiction writers. But all try to answer the same thing: why are there no signs of intelligent life beyond us?

1. The Galactic Zoo
   One of the favorite theories: aliens do know we’re here, but they observe us like someone watching a documentary on PBS. Without intervening. Because we’re too primitive… or too intense on Twitter.

2. The Great Filter
   Perhaps many civilizations have existed, but they all self-destruct before they can communicate with others (hello, climate change, artificial intelligence, nuclear wars…). We might be before the filter… or after. Both ideas are unsettling.

3. We’re Not Listening Properly
   Maybe they’re emitting signals… but on frequencies we don’t understand. Like trying to catch Wi-Fi with a broomstick. Or they’re simply using technology so advanced that we don’t even recognize it as communication.

4. They Already Came… and Left
   Yes. Maybe they passed by here millions of years ago, saw that this was a chaos of lava and ill-tempered dinosaurs… and decided not to return.

The paradox that itches, scratches, and keeps you awake

The Fermi Paradox is that question that doesn’t come with a manual, just a raised eyebrow and a “what if…?”

Because, simplifying a lot (and still leaving a bad feeling), there are two options:

• We’re alone in the universe. This entire universe, just for us. Cosmic ego or existential drama? You decide.

• We’re not alone, but they’re not answering us. And that’s where the party starts: are they ignoring us? Don’t they know we exist? Did they come and run away?

Either way, this paradox reminds us that we’re a species that throws questions into the sky hoping for answers… even though sometimes not even the echo returns the courtesy.

The Fermi Paradox… sponsored by La Liga, Telefónica, and with the Government’s blessing

So, while we obsess over the Fermi Paradox, wondering if we’re alone in the universe, here on Earth we give ourselves the most “earthly” answer possible: we’re not alone, but we’re too busy blocking each other.

What does this have to do with the universe? Well, instead of focusing on global and technological solutions that could truly connect humanity, we’re trapped in a cycle of digital self-destruction. Every weekend, during football matches, La Liga and Telefónica decide to cut off many IPs from different companies, as if by magic, blocking an entire block of Cloudflare IP addresses, like 104.16.0.0/13, to prevent users from accessing pirated content on apps like Magi TV or Roja Directo en Vivo.

The result? Thousands of small and medium-sized businesses are affected. Customers who can’t access legitimate services. Online stores that see their sales drop like goals in a match in the 90th minute. And the most ironic part: the problem remains unresolved. Instead of efficiently blocking the platforms that offer illegal content, they prefer to cut off an entire access network… and, of course, without the slightest idea of how technology works or how it affects users. A true blunder by some enlightened person who thinks they have power but doesn’t even know where the wind is coming from.

It’s as if, instead of looking for signs of extraterrestrial life, we’re isolating ourselves and blocking every attempt at progress and communication, from home Wi-Fi to any attempt to contact something beyond our technological borders.

And of course, while we continue closing doors and building digital walls on Earth, the question Fermi left us takes on a new meaning: if we continue like this, how can we expect to hear signals from the universe when we can’t even manage the signals we have right here, within reach?

In the end, the paradox isn’t just about outer space… we’re the ones disconnecting ourselves. What if the reason we don’t receive responses from the universe is because we’re so busy blocking everything that doesn’t suit us here, on our own planet?

Oh, and by the way, meanwhile, the government plays dumb, allowing these massive blockades as if everything were normal, without thinking about the consequences. But of course, they don’t have to live with those consequences, right? Anyway, it’s no wonder the universe decides to ignore us when we don’t even know how to manage our own connections, neither ours nor anyone else’s.