Comment by ggm
13 hours ago
Same with the viking coprolites found in Jorvik/York?
It would seem reasonable to say on a statistical sample of 1 we have no reason to believe this was common or uncommon, or do we say on the basis we found one, the assumption is that it was universal?
We know some things like floor rushes were picked to deter fleas, were there oral or rectal treatments which worked for worms?
Prevalence by existence. A coarse but realistic heuristic for very small sample sizes.
Can we use the same argument for life among the stars?
Intelligence, even?
We basically do. The habitable planet hunt is almost definitive for "since we depend on water and complex organic molecules for 'life' we will hunt for this signature to define if we think we have found extrasolar life, radio signals aside"