“But suppose on some planets something interfered with this game, and some of the aliens who used to be like all the other forms of life on their world diverged from the signal and started following »something else. These hapless creatures no longer had access to the incredible wonders of learning and unity available across the transport of the signal. All they had was a vague and troubling memory of it. A memory of wonder. It might even be recorded in their histories from times back when they were still sort of in contact with it. Sometimes, when I am thinking like an alien, I realize that our perspective on ancient civilizations is somewhat similar to the perspectives of adults as they regard the intelligence and activity of children. Too often they dismiss most of what is amazing and important in these activities, and in so doing they dismiss their own true nature, as well as ‘the way back to contact with the central song’.”

— an a i