In this paper we propose a new mathematical model capable of merging
Darwinian Evolution, Human History and SETI into a single mathematical scheme:
- Darwinian Evolution over the last 3.5 billion years is defined as one
particular realization of a certain stochastic process called Geometric
Brownian Motion (GBM). This GBM yields the fluctuations in time of the number
of species living on Earth. Its mean value curve is an increasing exponential
curve, i.e. the exponential growth of Evolution. 2) In 2008 this author
provided the statistical generalization of the Drake equation yielding the
number N of communicating ET civilizations in the Galaxy. N was shown to follow
the lognormal probability distribution. 3) We call “b-lognormals” those
lognormals starting at any positive time b (“birth”) larger than zero. Then the
exponential growth curve becomes the geometric locus of the peaks of a
one-parameter family of b-lognormals: this is our way to re-define Cladistics.
- b-lognormals may be also be interpreted as the lifespan of any living being
(a cell, or an animal, a plant, a human, or even the historic lifetime of any
civilization). Applying this new mathematical apparatus to Human History, leads
to the discovery of the exponential progress between Ancient Greece and the
current USA as the envelope of all b-lognormals of Western Civilizations over a
period of 2500 years. 5) We then invoke Shannon’s Information Theory. The
b-lognormals’ entropy turns out to be the index of “development level” reached
by each historic civilization. We thus get a numerical estimate of the entropy
difference between any two civilizations, like the Aztec-Spaniard difference in
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- In conclusion, we have derived a mathematical scheme capable of
estimating how much more advanced than Humans an Alien Civilization will be
when the SETI scientists will detect the first hints about ETs.