From: slinke@sdcc3.ucsd.edu (Steven Linke)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc,alt.atheism
Subject: I visited the ICR in person (2 of 4)
Date: 29 Aug 92 21:35:56 GMT
Followup-To: sci.skeptic

EXHIBIT #4: 2ND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS
=====================================
Displayed in a glass case were several "decaying" items,
including: a big rusty hook, a melted Erlenmeyer flask, a mouse
skeleton, and a melted 45 rpm record ("Bad Luck" by Dale &
Grace).  Presumably, they show the increasing entropy of the
universe.  Putting that Dale & Grace record out of its misery by
holding it over an open flame is one of the better things the ICR
has probably done.  :-)
 
Another display reads: "The universal Second Law is the
scientific reflection of God's curse on His created world because
of sin.  There is no known exception.  All processes (whether
operating on open or closed systems) tend to go in the direction
of increasing entropy (or `disorder').  This tendency can be
reversed only by the application of outside, specially
programmed, energy or information.  This tendency directly
precludes any natural evolution toward higher order.
 
"Entropy normally increases more rapidly in systems open to
influx of external energy."  At this point, there appeared a very
simplistic drawing of the sun radiating energy to the earth in
the form of a hug by cute, little yellow arms.
 
"Conditions for Increasing Complexity in Open System:
   1. Open System
   2. Available Energy
Note: These two conditions are satisfied by all systems on earth.
Therefore, though `necessary,' they are not `sufficient'
conditions.
   3. Program (to `direct' the growth of complexity)
        Examples:
      A. `Genetic Code' in DNA of living systems.
      B. `Plans and specification' for construction of artificial
         system.
   4. Mechanism for storing and converting incoming energy.
        Examples:
      A. Photosynthesis in plants
      B. Metabolism in animals
      C. Machinery in artificial construction"
 
EXHIBIT #5: NOAH'S ARK
======================
You walk into a room with the "look" and "feel" of Noah's Ark.
One wall contains a perspective picture of the Ark which makes
the room look like it continues on into rows of animal cages.
There are recorded sounds of thunder and rain and flashes of
light to simulate lightning.
 
Several plaques describe the purported sightings of Noah's Ark on
Mt. Ararat.  They mention several expeditions to find the Ark,
and the sketches and photos that were supposedly made.  Of
course, all the photos have been lost for various reasons or are
being hidden by scientists (such as at the Smithsonian
Institution).  No real photos or sketches are in the museum.
 
There is also a "scale model" of the Ark and an explanation of
how all the animals fit onto it.  The following points were made
to show which kinds were on the Ark:
 
1. "Noah was told to take two of each `kind' (seven of every
   `clean' kind).
2. "Biblical kind uncertain--probably linked by genetic
   variation.
3. "Example: dog kind probably includes dogs, wolves, coyotes,
   etc.
4.  "`Kind' certainly not more narrow than biological `species.'"
 
The number of "kinds" on board the Ark according to the
creationists: 3,700 mammals; 8,600 birds; 6,300 reptiles; and
2,500 amphibians.  Animals not on board: fishes, tunicates,
echinoderms, arthropods, mollusks, worms, coelenterates, sponges,
and protozoans.  This is 21,100 total "kinds."  From this, the
absolute maximum number of animals that had to be on the Ark was
50,000 ("and probably much less").
 
The dimensions of the Ark were listed at 450'x75'x45'.  This, the
plaque proclaims, results in 1,518,750 cubic feet, which is
apparently the equivalent of 569 railroad stock cars.  And, of
course, one can fit 240 sheep in a railroad stock car.  The
logical conclusion here, according to the plaque, is that the
50,000 animals could have fit into only 208 stock cars
(50,000/240).  So, the animals only took up 36.5% of the Ark.
 
How did the animals survive together without eating each other?
Simple, according to another plaque:
 
"1. In face of danger, predators and prey mingle together and
tend to enter a torpid (death-like) state."
2. Under stress, animals go into a state of hibernation or
estivation.
3. God could have instituted a state of hibernation, estivation,
or relative dormancy in the animals He sent to the Ark, so that
the need for animal husbandry would be minimized.  Survivors may
then have passed on these abilities to their descendants."
 
EXHIBIT #6: GEOLOGY
===================
This exhibit consists mainly of fossils in display cases.  They
may be real, or they may be fake.  The walls are a mock up of
geological strata, and there is a wall-sized picture of the Grand
Canyon.  There is also a small separate Mt. St. Helens room in
the shape of a volcano with painted lava running down the side.
The main point is seemingly that the pictures show very thin
strata that apparently formed during the relatively recent
eruption.  It also contains pictures of upright logs in Spirit
Lake.
 
How to Determine the Geological "Age" of a Fossil
-------------------------------------------------
"1. DO NOT use the depth where it is found.
 2. DO NOT use the type of rock in which it is found.
 3. DO NOT use radiometric date (these are practical only in non-
    fossil-bearing igneous rocks, and often disagree with each
    other).
 4. DO NOT use the `stage of evolution' of the fossil (that would
    be circular reasoning).
 5. DO use the Word of God (The Bible indicates that most of the
    fossils must have been buried in one year--the year of the
    Flood)!"
 
The Unreliability of Radiometric Dating
---------------------------------------
"1. If God created a `very good,' functionally mature earth, it
would already have possessed an array of isotopes and elements,
including their `daughter' products.
 2. During the Biblical Flood especially, but even under normal
circumstances, rocks would have been subjected to alteration by
ground water, etc., thereby changing their isotope content.
 3. Although decay rates of major isotopes are today rather
stable, it may be that they have changed over time, particularly
during times of major environmental changes (e.g. the Curse, the
Flood).
 4. It is known that many--probably most--radioactive age
measurements give discordant or anomalous, and therefore invalid,
ages.
 5. The method assumes that the Earth is at least old enough to
have produced the daughter amount through radio active decay.
 
"Thus we see that radiometric schemes assume the concept of
uniformity and deny the Biblical doctrines of Creation, Fall,
Flood, and Young Earth.  Little wonder the results of these
methods commonly disagree with each other and with other
geological and historical evidence."

-- 
Steve Linke
Salk Institute (Gene Expression Lab)
La Jolla, CA
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc