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I don't think they are claiming to have invented math on probability distributions and I didn't mean to suggest that that is what is novel about this paper. The

by titzer 8y ago

I don't think they are claiming to have invented math on probability distributions and I didn't mean to suggest that that is what is novel about this paper. They used a different, more powerful technique to look at the math of the Fermi Paradox and came to a conclusion different than that following from the normal treatment of the Drake equation. That's a reasonable contribution, IMO.

jessriedel 8y ago
But if you just formalize an approach that was considered by everyone right from the start, this isn't coming to a different conclusion. (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17304389 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17304389)