The bigger problem to me seems that both the numbers (galaxy and universe) are way too high. It seems like it should be more in the range of “meta-uncertainty + epsilon” for both answers. Maybe “epsilon * lots” for the universe one but even that should be lower than the uncertainty component.
I was kind of hoping most LWers at least had heard of the Great Silence/Fermi controversy, though.
Maybe there should be a question or two about the Fermi paradox.
The bigger problem to me seems that both the numbers (galaxy and universe) are way too high. It seems like it should be more in the range of “meta-uncertainty + epsilon” for both answers. Maybe “epsilon * lots” for the universe one but even that should be lower than the uncertainty component.