From: george murphy (gmurphy@raex.com)
Date: Thu Oct 02 2003 - 16:20:18 EDT
Walter Hicks wrote:
> George Murphy wrote:
> ..........................................
> > As far as "reaching out a hand is concerned" - well, scientifically. how do you
> > compromise between 6000 and 4.5 x 10^9? Average them and call it 2,250,003,000 years?
> > At the risk of being called a naive realist, this is is a case in which both can't be
> > right.
>
> That is not true, George. Both can be right. If the universe is a simulation with the history
> either built in or from a "previous" development, then mankind could be created 6000 years ago and
> placed on a planet with 4.5 x 10^9 years of history. It is theologically possible. It is just not
> _your_ theology, that's all.
How is this going to help. Conventional dating techniques take human & other hominid remains
well back beyond 6000 years so you're going to have to postulate apparent ages for them too. & I
can't see anything to gained by a more elaborate apparent age theory in which different entities have
different apparent ages.
But none of this is really germane to the problem of trying to achieve any reconciliation between
YECs and those who accept an old universe, earth, & humanity. Very few people in the former camp, &
nobody I know of in the latter, is really satisfied with the apparent age argument. YECs may use it
as a fallback position when their attempts to find scientific evidence for a young earth fall through,
but they aren't content to leave it there. If that weren't the case, why would they expend so much
effort on things like their RATE program?
So there's not much point in promoting any variation on apparent age to try to bring YECs & old
earth people together. Neither group will be satisfied with it.
Shalom,
George
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