Preconceptions and Radiometric Dating

February 12 is Question Evolution Day!

Paleontologists interpret data through their evolutionary presuppositions and worldview. Doesn't everyone? But when discarded evidence piles up and difficulties with dating methods worsen (such as realizing that there are too many assumptions and bad reasoning), that should cause some red flags for researches and prompt them to reevaluate their tendentious interpretations. But that would mean going in a direction that is unthinkable to them.

Many people think that radiometric dating has proved the Earth is millions of years old. That’s understandable, given the image that surrounds the method. Even the way dates are reported (e.g. 200.4 ± 3.2 million years) gives the impression that the method is precise and reliable.

However, although we can measure many things about a rock, we cannot directly measure its age. For example, we can measure its mass, its volume, its colour, the minerals in it, their size and the way they are arranged. We can crush the rock and measure its chemical composition and the radioactive elements it contains. But we do not have an instrument that directly measures age.

Before we can calculate the age of a rock from its measured chemical composition, we must assume what radioactive elements were in the rock when it formed. And then, depending on the assumptions we make, we can obtain any date we like.

Read the rest of "The way it really is: little-known facts about radiometric dating" here.