From: ingles@engin.umich.edu (Ray Ingles)
Subject: Re: Creationist CRAPOLA!
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 92 13:27:37 EDT
Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor

In article <1992Sep30.115509.26590@city.cs> lionel@cs.city.ac.uk (Lionel Tun) writes:
>In article <714@oscar.UUCP> shouse@oscar.UUCP (claude shouse) writes:
>>In article <1992Sep28.121140.24899@city.cs>, lionel@cs.city.ac.uk (Lionel Tun) writes:
>>> 
>>> All it shows is that different forms of life appear in the
>>> fossil record at different _layers_!
>>> 
>>> As to the interpretation of that, evo's say its because of
>>> evo, but an equally if not more valid interpretation is that
>>> of hydrological sorting in the flood.
>>> 
>>> --
>>> Lionel Tun   (lionel@cs.city.ac.uk)
>>> Vision Group, City University, London, EC1V 0HB. 071-477 8000 x 3889
>>
>>Hydrological sorting.  OK Lionel, I'll buy that if you can tell me
>>two things:  1.  Where did all the water come from.  and  2.  Where
>>did it go.  Remember, no miracles.  This is science not belief.
>
>1. The water came from the water vapour canopy around the earth.
>2. The water ended up in the oceans.

 I won't even bother with this. I mean, other people will point out
that even if you dropped all the water presently in the oceans onto
totally dry land, it would run off the land in much less than a year?
(Not that there would be a whole lot of land left...)

>This also explains why lifespans became shorter after the flood,
>because of the cosmic rays getting through and causing ageing.
>I can supply details of lifespans if you wish.

 Oh, yeah, the lifespan 'data.' 
 Lionel has compiled a list of the claimed ages of many Biblical figures,
like Methuselah et. al. The ages (as given in the list) tend to decrease
over time, on a curve which I gather Lionel characterizes as "sort of
exponential or something." (Note, those are not his exact words, but that's
what I gather out of what he's said.)
 Lionel also interprets a passage in the Bible (right after the flood,
I don't have my Bible handy to give the ref.) as God saying, "From now
on, human lifspan is limited to 120 years tops." (He doesn't seem to note
that there are several reported ages *after* the 'flood' in excess of
120 years...)
 From the above, he has come to the conclusion that the 'vapor canopy'
protected the Earth from cosmic rays, so people weren't damaged by them
and aged slower. I have no idea if the amount of water vapor he proposes
is enough to actually stop cosmic rays to any significant degree (indeed,
he never seems to state how much water vapor is involved, even a ballpark
estimate) but cosmic rays do not (at least presently) have all that dramatic
effect on aging. Far more important (I mean *far* more important) are
things like diet, excercise, and good old fashioned genetic good luck.
 To my knowledge, no one aside from Lionel has proposed that cosmic rays
have any measurable effect on aging.
 Oh, well.

>>Claude Shouse
>
>--
>Lionel Tun   (lionel@cs.city.ac.uk)
>Vision Group, City University, London, EC1V 0HB. 071-477 8000 x 3889


Sincerely,

Ray Ingles                  || The above opinions are probably
                            || not those of the University of
ingles@engin.umich.edu      || Michigan. Yet.
Xref: sparky talk.origins:12465 talk.religion.misc:17594