I really dislike the drake equation because it's the epitome of bad science -- when someone enters value for the variables they have no idea what is reasonable, absolutely no idea -- is it 0.1 or 0.0000000000000000000000000000001 we have no way of knowing.
Though I do like how it gets people to realize how small and insignificant we are in the grand scale that is the solar system, the reasoning we take to get there is fundamentally flawed. We use numbers that have everyday meaning to us, and of course it spits out nice results; this is flawed reasoning since we have no basis to think those numbers are even remotely correct. In general, I just think it's sloppy thinking that takes advantage of deficiencies in human thinking -- it's a magic trick.
Though I do like how it gets people to realize how small and insignificant we are in the grand scale that is the solar system, the reasoning we take to get there is fundamentally flawed. We use numbers that have everyday meaning to us, and of course it spits out nice results; this is flawed reasoning since we have no basis to think those numbers are even remotely correct. In general, I just think it's sloppy thinking that takes advantage of deficiencies in human thinking -- it's a magic trick.