I was watching a special on the Biblical flood when my father came up with a simple bit of data that disproves the Creationist theory of "sediment sorting" That bit they use to try to explain why the fossils aren't all in one layer, or whatever you called it. Ready?
Coal seams.
Since all coal is essentially identical, being made from various plant materials, if sediment sorting via the Flood were true, it should all have been laid down in one layer. But it isn't. Around here, it's easy to spot two coal seams with layers and layers of other sediment between them.
------------------ "Nobody knows this, but I'm scared all the time... of what I might do, if I ever let go." -- Michael Garibaldi
posted
Only if all the plants were the same type. Density differences are definitely possible with huge trees and undergrowth. It's also possible that some of the plants (undergrowth) died immediately, but the large trees lasted longer, and stayed standing longer, thus forming another layer.
Admittedly, I don't have the best grasp of the hydrosorting theory possible, so I'm not the best person to defend it.
------------------ "To disarm the people [is] the best and most effectual way to enslave them." - George Mason, American Statesman and Author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)
posted
Except that we know from studying coal seam fossils that the plants were many different types, from ferns to light reedy bushes to trees, within the same seam. And that explanation still doesn't account for more than two seams. There are places around here where you can find four, five, even six separate seams. Or oil and gas fields.
Personally, I think the theory's hard to 'explain to the layman' because it's about as well thought-out and reasoned as the Time Cube. But that's just me.
------------------ "Nobody knows this, but I'm scared all the time... of what I might do, if I ever let go." -- Michael Garibaldi
[This message has been edited by First of Two (edited June 29, 2000).]
posted
Fair enough. I know so little about it that I don't want to declare it valid or invalid either way. If you've got a problem with it, I'm not the guy to talk to.
------------------ "To disarm the people [is] the best and most effectual way to enslave them." - George Mason, American Statesman and Author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)
posted
All the 'Creationist' theories I've seen always have facts accompanying that prove them wrong.
------------------ "The lies I told are not falsehoods according to my definition of truth." Bill Clinton "All stupid people are liberals, because they don't know any better." Rob Rodehorst "Don't underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups" - Dilbert, Scott Adams
posted
Err one question on the evolution theory. Imagine if Jesus (or Moses or whoever) was trotting down the local dirt path and a T-rex decided to have lunch. Since the world is some few thousand years old, you'd think the holy texts would have some information or ongoing reference to these creatures.
------------------ "Remeber, if there is a nuclear explosion, be sure to close your windows as the massive heat could cause objects within your home to catch fire".
posted
naah, they generally consider the dinosaurs as having been wiped out in the Flood, (except for the ones Noah saved?) with maybe a few surviving later to create the legends of Behemoth and Leviathan. Apparently, though, they didn't do as well as every other species.
And we still don't know where all the water went.
------------------ "Nobody knows this, but I'm scared all the time... of what I might do, if I ever let go." -- Michael Garibaldi
posted
The basic theory on the dinosarus (at least the one I currently subscribe to) is that they still exist (or at least existed until relatively recently), but they just don't grow as big. Reptiles grow throughout their lives, and if humans lived centuries upon centuries before the flood, there's no reason to think that everything else didn't, as well. Thus huge reptiles.
And all the water is still in the oceans. It convered the earth because the antedeluvian continents were lower that the current ones.
And I would point out to Jeff that I have yet to see any theory that could explain how the world/life/the universe could have come about that holds water.
------------------ "To disarm the people [is] the best and most effectual way to enslave them." - George Mason, American Statesman and Author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)
[This message has been edited by Omega (edited June 30, 2000).]
posted
*ahem* Dinosaurs are *not* reptiles. They have been proven time and again to be warm-blooded, much more like birds.
If the world was indeed covered with water at one point, shouldn't the entire continents be covered with sedimentary rock?
If the world is only 3000-4000 years old, then explain this: The sun is so dense that it takes 10,000 years for a single photon inside it to bounce its way out and on its way here(Discover Magazine, sometime last year). How are we seeing the light from the sun now?
------------------ "The lies I told are not falsehoods according to my definition of truth." Bill Clinton "All stupid people are liberals, because they don't know any better." Rob Rodehorst "Don't underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups" - Dilbert, Scott Adams
posted
"If the world was indeed covered with water at one point, shouldn't the entire continents be covered with sedimentary rock?"
Not when you account for volcanic activity over the past few thousand years.
"Dinosaurs are *not* reptiles. They have been proven time and again to be warm-blooded, much more like birds."
Oh. Well, then, ignore that part of the theory. It doesn't really matter.
"How are we seeing the light from the sun now?"
You're assuming that the sun has always been as it is. That's something a lot of evolutionists do with a lot of things.
------------------ "To disarm the people [is] the best and most effectual way to enslave them." - George Mason, American Statesman and Author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)
posted
... and something a lot of Creationists do with a lot of things, too, in certain feeble attempts to explain why the universe HAS to be young. Like your old 'short-lived comets' and 'moon receding from Earth' theories.
------------------ "Nobody knows this, but I'm scared all the time... of what I might do, if I ever let go." -- Michael Garibaldi
posted
There's a big difference between assuming a value remains constant and assuming that the rate of change remains relatively constant.
------------------ "To disarm the people [is] the best and most effectual way to enslave them." - George Mason, American Statesman and Author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)
posted
Don't forget the bogus "the speed of light constant is speeding up" theory.
------------------ "The lies I told are not falsehoods according to my definition of truth." Bill Clinton "All stupid people are liberals, because they don't know any better." Rob Rodehorst "Don't underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups" - Dilbert, Scott Adams
posted
You never did explain why you thought that the evidence didn't fit that general theory.
------------------ "To disarm the people [is] the best and most effectual way to enslave them." - George Mason, American Statesman and Author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)
posted
Wasn't the theory that Earth was only 4000 or so years old disproved eons ago? Watch "Inherit the Wind." Awesome movie except for two extremely annoying songs.
------------------ "One more day before the storm At the barricades of freedom! When our ranks begin to form Will you take your place with me?" --Enjolras, "One Day More," Les Miserables
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