What is the most obvious and easily shown indication of the Earth being more than 6,000 years old?

Question

Me and a colleague had a discussion about this on our way into work.

I thought of light from distant start having travled further than possible in 6000 years, Radiometric dating etc.

Any really obvious ones, I could actually show the person?

Answer 1

Coal, takes just a wee bit longer than 6,000 years to form from vegetation, then I suppose you could bring up diamonds.

Answer 2

I will refrain from using a your moma joke.


Most Christian's believe that if God can create Adam fully adult then why not a world fully old and grown.

As A Christian I believe anything is possible God could have done that. As someone who questions things I think it is possible that Genesis was given to people who could not understand the vast concept of time and evolution so they were told things like 7 days Would God tell them in detail how he made the world? I doubt he would knowing they would not understand it. Read a complex science book to a kindergartener or just tell them a story they can understand.


Again to me it is all speculation I don't know I just have a in depth gut feeling there is something more after death other than being worm food it is just something I feel

Answer 3

starlight is a great choice, but I have a better one.

In the American southwest there is a plant that grows everywhere called a creosote bush. It has recently gotten a bit of attention due to the fact that they have dated some of the bushes at over 11,000 years old...

These aren't fossils, or tree ring counts of dead bushes. These are actual living things that have been growing in their present location for the past 11,000 years or so.

Fundamentalist tend to either claim fossils are fakes, from the flood, or put there by god for some retarded reason or other. The way I see it though, for a plant to be this old, it must have been sitting on the desk in god's study for 5000 years or so before he decided to make an earth to put it on..... Could this mean that the earth was actually made FOR the creosote bush and people are merely placed here to take care of them?? lol

Another good one would be the continuous tree ring record of bristlecone pines in the white mountains. Currently, these go back about 8000 years, but the oldest living tree is around 4500 years old.

Answer 4

"Just like scientists are finding out that the speed of light is not a constant (as previously thought), the time for carbon to decay could also be changing and not be a constant"

Now why should a creationist want to cite theoretical physicists in defence of his position, when those physicists are postulating that the speed of light MAY have been different 12 billion years ago?

Ceationists are as bad as atheists. From one wee hear "science has disproved religion". From the other we hear "religion has disproved science".

Answer 5

It is interesting to see all of the people who "think" that the laws of physics change when ever convenient. Carbon decays at different rates on a whim. Light changes speed on a whim. All fossils form in the same convenient manner. Aborigines have a history that goes back about 50,000 years. I supposed god made up those histories to be convenient. Satan is busy these days.

The speed of light is a constant except under specific conditions. Carbon decays ata constant except under certain conditions.

Answer 6

Chemical and radiological analysis of various types, such as carbon-dating can be used to test the age of organic and inorganic materials.

Creationists just will not believe that the tests are valid.
It always comes down to a matter of belief.
Scientific proof is never enough for these people.

They would only accept it if Jesus himself came down from heaven and told them that, verily, it was so.

Answer 7

Well, what about the universe? Wasn't everything said to have been made at once? That being the case, how is it that we can see the light of stars billions of light years away? That light wouldn't have had time to get here in a mere 6000 years.

(Oh... you said that. Yeah. What you said!)

Answer 8

Using carbon dating to date things is invalid. We dont know if carbon decayed at the same rate 5000 years ago as it does today. They are basing their measurements on assumptions. Just like scientists are finding out that the speed of light is not a constant (as previously thought), the time for carbon to decay could also be changing and not be a constant.

EDIT: bocasbeachbum wrote: "The speed of light is a constant except under specific conditions. Carbon decays ata constant except under certain conditions."

If something changes, then it cant be a constant. Thats like saying, "I love you all the time, except when ..." You dont love all the time thusly you dont love constantly.

Scientists DO NOT know what the conditions of the Earth were thousands and "millions" of years ago. They base those measurements on speculating that the conditions were the same then as today so carbon decays at the same rate. Or they speculate as to how the conditions were and "figure out" how fast (slow) carbon decays under those conditions and evaluate the age with those numbers. Regardless, it is all speculation!

EDIT: I looked for a NON-creationism website and found http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/phy99/phy99x43.htm

Here are some quotes: "The rate of decay of a radioactive
element
is not a constant."
"Radiocarbon dating depends on the assumption that the relative abundance of the
radioactive carbon isotope in the atmosphere has been constant throughout
earth's
history."

Leslie: My position is that Carbon-dating is invalid. It is a poor answer to the question that was asked intentionally. I am not saying that science disproves religion or religion disprove science; just that I see a flaw in this particular part of scientific "evidence".

Answer 9

I had a discussion with a young earth creationist once about stars. According to him, god not only positioned the stars, but also the photons in just the right place so that it would _seem_ like it was an old universe.

I stopped trying to reason and started laughing.

Answer 10

diamonds.

diamonds are actually millions of years old organic matter.

it's super compressed coal, which is super compressed oil, which is millions of years dead and compressed organic matter.

these things can be found all over the earth, and scientists can prove how to make them, because these days, they CAN make them.

only difference is, the ones ones the make quick are way to perfect, and they say that in order to get the infinitely small imperfections found in "good grade" diamonds,it would take them being formed over a span of millions of years.

so there ya go.no carbon dating necessary, just totally proven science.