Well, since this whole thread is predicated on the idea that people DO believe that, and the question is asked of people who believe that, what’s the problem?
So what’s the connection? What equation proves that there has to be intelligent life somewhere else (obviously the probability that that there is any intelligent life is 1, since we like to think we’re pretty intelligent) in the universe? Is this proven to the same degree of certainty as the statement that 1+1=2? Show me the math, and if it’s solid, then I give up. Oh, we’ll also need evidence of the veracity of all the assumptions made in the computation.
Oh, or is the “widely regarged improbability” not proven? Perhaps one of those “everybody knows” things? You know, snopes is full of those.
Anyway, mathematics doesn’t make any statements about the universe. Math as such is abstract, and in order to apply it to the universe, you need certain givens, and observations that must be true, otherwise there’s no relation.
I have used the equation before in class. Every year some student takes this home and figures new and improved rational for life on other planets…Conversely, every year a student denounces the existence of life on other planets as improbable. This leads to wondrous classroom debates and heated remarks about our human existence in this universe which we reside…
**I am not shooting down ones beliefs but I am questioning what science has yet to prove and what people are willing to believe. Fascinating !