This anticatastrophe principle is called uniformitarianism . In other words, only processes observable today and acting at present rates can be used to explain past events. Because some catastrophes, such as large impacts from outer space, are now fashionable, many now recognize uniformitarianism as a poor and arbitrary assumption. However, this presents a dilemma. Uniformitarianism was intended to banish the global flood.
Most geologists object to such a possibility.
They either deny that a problem exists or hope it will go away. The problem will not go away, but will fester even more until enough geologists recognize that catastrophes were not the problem. Early geologists simply, and arbitrarily, wanted to exclude the global flood, not catastrophes. Disallowing catastrophes also produces a mind-set where strange observations are ignored, or considered unbelievable, rather than viewed as possibly important diagnostic details worthy of testing and consideration. Table 10 on page 184 is a broad target for anyone who wishes to grapple with ideas.