I watched this great little talk that helped add a few more pieces of understanding in Earth’s evolutionary story.
Rooted in Earth history: the Devonian transition to a forested planet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwkbePIWeIU&lc;= Palaeo cast - Published on Feb 21, 2016 By Christopher M. Berry, William E. Stein, Peter Giesen, John E. A. Marshall and Honghe Xu Recorded at the 59th Annual Meeting of the Palaeontological Association, Cardiff.I also got into a bit of a debate with one, Psalm1Tree, apparently a Young Earther or whatever. He's a pistol, so we been batting it back and forth for a few and I've spent too much time on it this morning, I have other things must get done. But, since I have been spending a bunch of time trying to give the guy serious responses and challenges, I thought I'd schlep the last over here, see if there might be any discussion potential in it.
Interesting, I suggest a talk that directly discusses the Geologic Column and what it has to teach us about Earth's geologic history. You reject it outright. Now you tell me to watch two hours worth of "Scientific Evidence for a Young World - Dr. Russell Humphreys, Ph.D." Now unlike you, I actually do chase the bones folks like you toss out there. The introduction begins with bitching about "naturalism becoming humanity's dominate religion" - which is utter bull shit on various levels, so right from the gitgo its being dishonest. Then comes Russell who starts by telling me Earth is thousands of years old, Oh dear me I wonder, has this guy ever spent any time outside of his physics lab and computer models? I can see the unfathomable spans of deep time all around me! Regarding Naturalism, "naturalism" is about opening our eyes, gather evidence and learning, observing the physical world that surrounds us. Religions are about dogmatic human beliefs and a mindless absolutist rejection of all that threatens those beliefs. Science is about incorporating new information with old knowledge - and about honestly representing one's opponents! Why can't you give me any credit? I've been learning about and living in the middle of amazing geologic exposures for nearly 40 year. But you are so absolutely self-certain, you totally dismiss me with my nose to rocks observations, and decades worth of seeking and learning. My work has me traveling all around our county. Being a one time Chicago boy growing up dreaming of the wild west, I can tell you that I love every minute of living in this countryside around me and I try to absorb it intellectually and viscerally as I drive to far flung corners. I do a lot of triangulating striving to develope my 'visceral feel' for the topography and landscapes stretching out around me and with time the geology underlaying it. My travels are filled with trying to better grasp this creation I exist within. The days race by and the learning accumulates since my travels are constantly punctuated with new observations and connects. In fact, just last week, driving up CR234, a road I'd first driven in 1980s, so I know every turn well - yet not until this one drive did I clearly "see" (I mean it was like snapping-in a puzzle piece), how and why the course of the Florida River took that discreet barely noticed bend to the south, rather than following down Florida Rd into Durango the way the traffic does along a different road. Something I'd been looking at for decades, but without truly Appreciating the geology of what I was driving through. Now I do and love stuff like that, punctuated learning you could say. That is what science and learning is all about, collecting observation and thoughts, and every so often we learn something significant, we connect dots and suddenly understand one's place in the world just a little better. {Ever improving resolution as they say} You and your type are on a nonstop bender to defend an indefensible world view - never demonstrating the slightest curiosity to understand what you don't know or understand. Always too busy telling me and 'my type' how ignorant we are, without even knowing any of us. Always too busy battering challenging evidence, to learn anything from it. Why? Because why??? Perhaps because you are frightened and confused and weak - so like any cornered scared being you lash out with self-defensive, assumptions, insults, distractions, anger. Misrepresenting what you're railing against at every step along the way. It's no wonder we've devolved into such a self-cannibalizing society. So sad.I guess the one thing that truly horrified me about the experience was when I googled certain terms about the geologic column, there were first pages worth of creationist fraud, before you could find any serious science video, very disheartening - it keep feeling like the backsliding is only increasing. :ahhh: