News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on 60 years later, is it time to update the Drake equation?. Parent comment

Re:60 years later, is it time to update the Drake equation? by ghaff on Tuesday May 18, 2021 @04:33PM (#27200664)
>That would indicate that either life arises easily

Not really. While suggestive, all it indicates is that it arose on earth easily.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:60 years later, is it time to update the Drake equation? by s1artibartfast on Tuesday May 18, 2021 @05:06PM (#27201142)
not even that. Life could have been incredibly unlikely to arise on earth, but still arise when it did as freak statistical occurrence. We only have one earth to examine, and the anthropic principle severely limits any conclusions we could draw from n=1.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:60 years later, is it time to update the Drake equation? by ghaff on Tuesday May 18, 2021 @05:24PM (#27201379)
Yeah, happened to arise on earth quickly would probably be the better phrasing.
[ Parent | on HN ]