Re: Challenge for Young Earth Creationists: the clock is now
Bill Hamilton (hamilton@predator.cs.gmr.com)
Thu, 27 Aug 1998 10:31:00 -0400Greg wrote:
>Okay Bill,
>
>You got me curious. The only questions that come to mind (and these have
>already been asked) are:
>
> How do you know the starting conditions (ration of parent/daughter
> elements). Obviously you don't and so you have to make assumptions.
> How can you be sure the sample remained in a closed environment (i.e. no
> parent/daughter elements were added or removed). There is of course no
> such thing as a closed environment in nature.
> Are you sure the rate of decay has always been constant? I've heard,
> but don't know if it's true, that fluctuations in the earths magnetic
> field and the Van Allen belts can alter the decay rates. Are there any
> other factors that are known to affect this?
>
>I just realized that all the questions I mentioned are directed at the
>Old-earth proponents. Maybe I misunderstood where you were going with your
>post and you intended a question to be asked of YEC folks. The one that
>immediately comes to mind is the speed of light issue. There have been a
>number of proposed explanations for how we can view light from billions of
>light years distant if the earth is 10,000 years old or less. Dr. Russel
>Humphries has written a pretty good book on this subject entitled
>"Starlight and Time."
>
>If none of the above are the question you are referring to I'd really
>appreciate it if you revealed it to me. I'm intensely curious now. :)
Good questionis, but not the one I had in mind. I'm sure I created a great
deal of curiousity, but I'm going to simply answer yes or no at least for a
while, since I want the YEC's themselves to come up with the answer
(actually the question) and I don't want to risk any leaks. I have
discussed this challenge with one other old-earth person on this list, and
he has agreed that it's a good challenge to put on the table. I suppose I
ought to specify conditions under which I will reveal the question. If no
one has provided the answer by 1 December, I will post it.
Bill Hamilton
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
William E. Hamilton, Jr., Ph.D.
Staff Research Engineer
Chassis and Vehicle Systems, GM R&D Center
Warren, MI
hamilton@predator.cs.gmr.com / whamilto@mich.com (home)