Quote:
Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan
From the Wiki:
The factor L is the only one that represents a factor of time, and as I indicated, specifies how long a civilization can send signals... but not when. A new variable, S, needs to be introduced that compares the period of time during which a civilization exists simultaneously with our own, in order for such signals to have a chance of being intercepted.
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S is only needed if you are comparing two (or more) specific civilizations. If you don't care which civilization you come in contact with all you really need to know is how many such civilizations are likely to exist at a given time, which is what the Drake Equation would tell us if we could give real values to all the variables.
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Bill