I heard an interesting stat the other day on NPR.
48% of Americans believe Earth is less than 10,000 years old.
I have not confirmed the figure. By not doing so I leave myself with a glimmer of hope that it is false and that we Americans aren’t as stubborn-minded and foolish as this percentage implies. 10,000 years ago is nothing, geologically speaking. I’ve skipped rocks that are older than 10,000 years old.
I suspect that religion may be a factor here. But anyone who actually believes Earth to be so young is blinded by more than faith. Whoever you believe created the world, I can assure you that he/she/it/they did it a way long time ago (~4.5 billion years ago).
To help put the geologic timescale in perspective here is a column I wrote a while back:
48% of Americans believe Earth is less than 10,000 years old.
I have not confirmed the figure. By not doing so I leave myself with a glimmer of hope that it is false and that we Americans aren’t as stubborn-minded and foolish as this percentage implies. 10,000 years ago is nothing, geologically speaking. I’ve skipped rocks that are older than 10,000 years old.
I suspect that religion may be a factor here. But anyone who actually believes Earth to be so young is blinded by more than faith. Whoever you believe created the world, I can assure you that he/she/it/they did it a way long time ago (~4.5 billion years ago).
To help put the geologic timescale in perspective here is a column I wrote a while back:
1 comment:
Where's the column Kels? I'm interested in reading it but can't find the link.
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