Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site islenet.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!gamma!epsilon!zeta!sabre!bellcore!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!umcp-cs!gymble!lll-crg!dual!islenet!bob From: bob@islenet.UUCP (Bob Cunningham) Newsgroups: net.origins Subject: Re: The Scientific Case for Creation: (Part 31) Message-ID: <1371@islenet.UUCP> Date: Wed, 10-Jul-85 04:36:59 EDT Article-I.D.: islenet.1371 Posted: Wed Jul 10 04:36:59 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 18-Jul-85 03:39:10 EDT References: <385@iham1.UUCP> Distribution: net Organization: Hawaii Institute of Geophysics Lines: 32 > 57. Any estimated date prior to the beginning of written > records must necessarily assume that the dating clock has > operated at a known rate, that the initial setting of the > clock is known, and that the clock has not been disturbed. > These assumptions are almost always unstated or > overlooked. I think you'll find that most published radiometric datings discuss both the possible problems with initial conditions (e.g. crystallization period, possible capture of included Ar, etc. -- for K/Ar dating). > 58. A major assumption that underlies all radioactive dating > techniques is that the rates of decay, which have been > essentially constant over the past 70 years, have also > been constant over the past 4,600,000,000 years. This > bold, critical, and untestable assumption is made even > though no one knows what causes radioactive decay. > Furthermore, there is conflicting evidence that suggests > that radioactive decay has not always been constant but > has varied by many orders of magnitude from that observed > today [a,b]. Any serious evidence of the rate of change of nuclear reactions would likely revolutionize modern physics. In the case of K/Ar dating and C14 dating, it's only necessary to assume that the rate is constant over the time of interest. In any case, only an increase in the rate of decay by several orders of magnitude would provide evidence consistent with creationist views (a lower rate would imply longer, not shorter time spans). -- Bob Cunningham {dual|vortex|ihnp4}!islenet!bob Honolulu, Hawaii