Re: Drake Equation - you're missing the point (Score 1)

The Drake Equation is merely an attempt to break up an extremely difficult question - "how many communicating civilizations are there in our galaxy" - into more manageable parts. By focussing on each individual probability and attempting to improve limits on those we can improve the reliability of their product.

I don't think Frank Drake, or any serious-minded person who quotes this equation would fail to acknowledge that most of the probabilities are unknown at this stage. That's no reason not to make educated guesses...