Why is it so hard to calculate the Earths age?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...earth/&usg=AFQjCNGRH-DJ0QmEdlKDOZ5ZjGrqZ32CLg

Who knows how old everything is for real? Maybe it's above our pay grade.

 

I will just opine since I was not around when the world was created, I can only say, "I don't know."

 

4.5 billion years old..maybe it is the source you are reading

 

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It mentions the REAL age as you stated but sticks with 6,000 years old. The OP's source is called "Answers In Genesis" whose stated mission is;

"Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively".

 

Nah, it's 4.5 billion years.

 

But i am pretty sure more than 6000 years ago

 

It's funny because there's no way to bridge the gap between 6000 and 4.5 billion.

 

Incorrect. One of them is wrong.

 

When in doubt: God did it.

 

I think our calculation of time is off. Who says a day is 24 hours.

 

The length of a day is determined by the (current) rotation of the Earth. Hours are just conceptual measurements to break that up. Neither of them have any impact on the age of the Earth or the Universe, which are commonly measured in years anyway.

 

LMAO...Not for intelligent people.
Religion flies planes into buildings. Science flies rockets to Mars.
Don't confuse religious superstition with scientific knowledge.

 

It's not that hard. The estimate we did in the 1950s of about 4.55 billion years old has pretty much held up. We use a variety of radioisotopes, and the answer every time is about the same, no matter the isotope.

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Give or take, yes.

 

Well, there are two choices--1) the earth is really 4.5 billion years old or 2) the earth is 6000 years old, but was created to look 4.5 billion years old. As a religious person, my personal answer is 1. 2 does not fit what a loving God would do to his creation.

 

I get it. I don't want to make it science vs religion but I am just wondering why ppl are just stuck on the 6000 years. There is no way the earth is just 6000 years old. I don't know if it's 4.5 bill but it has to be over 6000.

 

The Earth is about 4.54 Billion years old and it's not all that hard to calculate.

Some elements have a radioactive half life and when we date Organic Materials we use Carbon-14 which is a radioactive isotopes of Carbon.

As Carbon exists in everything that ever lived we can date organic materials age by the neutron decay in Carbon-14.

We use other Elementary Isotopes to date in-organic materials.

AboveAlpha

 

Really?

The fact that the Earth is ancient in the extreme at 4.54 Billion years old has nothing to do whether a GOD exists or not.

AboveAlpha

 

There is good evidence for the 4.5 billion year estimate, as others have said. However, you're right that the 6,000 year claim is even more ridiculous than simply saying we don't know it's 4.5 billion. It's important to distinguish between two different levels of certainty. Saying it's not 4.5 billion is a bold claim. Saying it's 6,000 is just plain nuts. Even before we discovered radioactivity, and even before Darwin, we had already figured out that the Earth was at least millions of years old based on basic geology. The 6,000 years estimate is outdated even by 19th century scientific standards.

 

Anyone claiming that the Earth is only 6000 years old is either delusional or a religious zealot.

The fact we can witness the Earth's Tectonic Plates moving a few inches or more a year and then any child that looks at a globe and see's how Africa and South America are but two pieces of a puzzle is more informed.

AboveAlpha

 

I think folks feel they have to denounce God if they add some science to the equation. We don't know exactly how old certain ppl are in relation to religion. So it's not a stretch to think that should be revisited and that doesn't mean those who understand this don't believe in religion.

 

The use of the Scientific Method to understand reality does not conflict with a persons belief or non-belief in a GOD or GODS.

However it does conflict with ancient human written religious texts.

People have to understand such texts were written at a time when Humanity knew very little about reality.

AboveAlpha

 

Your comment is most sensible.

 

Well thank you.

AboveAlpha

 

Then you have proof that 6,000 years ago God did not create a fully working and developed Universe that appears to be far older?

 

No, there's another choice: admitting we don't know how old the Earth is.

Only if one assumes He did it to deceive, which is hardly the only possibility.

We don't.

Actually I'd say it's a lot more important to realize this concept is meaningless. If you're only 99.99% certain a thing is true, you don't know it's true.