Why are some people disputing the carbon dating of the Fossils?

8. July 2008, 10:51 UhrEarth Sciences & Geologyadmin
dating
ScootRBoy asked:


Even if the cabon dating is disputed, we can still judge the age of the earth to be millions of years old because of the Ice and rock layers.

3 comments:

  1. Lucas C, 8. July 2008, 19:57

    Because they’re idiots.

    I’m sorry, that was a bit harsh. Let me try to answer your question without resorting to ad hominem attacks.

    People who dispute the age of the Earth or of prehistoric artifacts (OR who call into question the accuracy of the methods used to find these ages) usually have an agenda for doing so. I can say that confidently because all dating methods are based on sound science that has been tested time and time again. Each test confirms the usefulness of these methods. While it IS true that there is always an opportunity for error in any dating method, there are always multiple means of establishing age. You said so yourself, and you were absolutely correct.

    People who question well-established methods of dating ancient rocks and artifacts do so because they want to disprove that anything (the Earth, dinosaur bones, arrowheads, whatever) is older than a certain date. Like, say, 6000 years. You can imagine how frustrating it must be to adhere to the idea that the Earth is only six millennia old when there are whole fields of science in opposition. So, in order to support their ideas, they must make the opposing evidence look faulty. They come up with these hypotheses that would perfectly explain the conflicting evidence…well, that is, if their hypotheses weren’t fundamentally flawed. And yet, they refuse to accept reality the way it is.

    I’m glad that you’re obviously above all that. Keep thinking critically and you’ll do well.

     
  2. gremlingts, 11. July 2008, 4:43

    People who use faith as a shield, keep themselves from the hot flames of truth with their flawed tool. That’s been a problem with ANY religion, when you start claiming it’s your “faith” that you “believe” in, they think no one can challenge them. And it’s usually the flat-earth, created-in-7-days folks who dispute it, because they’d then have to admit they were wrong. And faith in their ignorant beliefs keeps them from accepting the truth, no matter how hard you try to “prove” it to them. Logic has no place with them when Faith is standing in the way - or is that Stubborness? Same thing, sometimes.

    - The Gremlin Guy -

     
  3. carbonates, 13. July 2008, 6:40

    People who dispute carbon-dating of fossils are doing so because they find their own over-simplistic religious beliefs threatened by something they don’t understand.

    The silly part of it is that fossils are almost never dated by carbon-dating since it will not date anything over 60,000 years old.

    You are correct that there is much more evidence of the ancient age of the earth than simply carbon-dating. I have only to look at a mountain range, or at a beach to see evidence of deep time. I don’t need to count carbon atoms to convince myself. Even the rings of some trees manage to ruin the assertions of the young earth creationists who claim the world was created in 4004 B.C.