If the earth was any older than say, about six thousand years, then because sediments are constantly flowing into the oceans from rivers, and this results in salt and other minerals accumulating in the sea, should not the ocean now be so salty that it can no longer support life. Obviously the scientific evidence must support the young earth dogma of conservative Christian apologetics. This scientific sounding argument is employed by fundamentalist Biblical creation ‘scientists' as proof that modern science is actually a tool of Satan the devil being used to impose ‘secular humanism' on the science classrooms in the schools of the nation. Analysis of the evidence reveals falsification of the data for the typical purpose of such propagandists.. Such selective abuse of the entire data set indicates that this is once again not a scientific argument, but rather a propaganda assault intended to support a preordained conclusion.
A common technique of reactionary creationist propagandists is to find some convenient short term trend, make the false claim that the trend is as uniform and consistent as they claim the Bible to be, and then use the data from the trend in a mathematical equation to establish that the earth is about as old as described by a literal conservative interpretation of the Bible. This technique is used to create a ridiculously inflated figure for population growth on the earth if the earth was any older than, conveniently, about six thousand years. A companion technique is also very often employed, the nullification of inconvenient evidence and testimony, both in the Bible itself, where the radical protests against the religious conservatives of the day by one group of Biblical authors is nullified by the conservative reactionaries of today (not surprising really), and the same technique is applied to scientific evidence (also not surprising). This can be clearly demonstrated by analyzing the so called evidence for a young earth (and consequently evidence for a socially conservative literalist interpretation of the Bible) that is found when considering the inflow of sediments into the ocean from rivers, and then making a facile comparison with current levels of salinity in the oceans.
The way the argument proceeds is as follows, and parallels conservative Biblical apologetics (since creation science is not a branch of oceanology but rather a branch of the conservative evangelical movement). Find convenient passages from the Bible and use these passages to ‘prove' that the right wing conservative interpretation of the Bible as infallible and inerrant is correct. Find convenient figures for the input of sediments into the oceans (one that convenient is defined as whatever figures might suggest that the world is about as old as you want it to be). Nullify all inconvenient Bible passages Nullify any inconvenient figures and facts about ocean salinity, sedimentation, and ignore inconvenient evidence about natural processes and checks and balances (use only the data that will support the foreordained conclusion to make a plausible sounding scientific seeming falsehood, and pretend that conflicting evidence does not exist).
A superficial analysis of the ocean salinity argument used by the religious right might leave a person with the impression that irrefutable evidence has been presented that a Devilish plot of secular humanism is in fact invading the school rooms and campuses of the nations. Measure the inflow of such sediments into the ocean. Make note of the current salinity of the ocean. Extrapolate backwards and calculate how old the ocean would have to be to reach current levels of salinity, and, not surprisingly, find out that the world is about as old as Adam. However, even a cursory examination of this theory proves it to be another one of those plausible sounding falsehoods.
For example it would take around 250 million years for the current level of sodium in the oceans to accumulate. (Suggest that the ocean was created six thousand years ago with lots of sodium.) Alright then, the amount of lead currently in the ocean would have taken only 2,000 years to accumulate. The world, therefore, can be no more than 2,000 years old. The silicon in the ocean, at present rates of accumulation would be achieved in 8,000 years, the current levels of silver in 2 million years. The list goes on, several hundred thousand years for this element (gold), tens of millions of years for that element (magnesium, potassium), and so on. What is nullified here is that there is no way to determine the age of the earth by extrapolating based on current rates of sedimentation and comparative measurements of ocean salinity. This produces a range of ages from a couple of thousand to several hundreds of millions of years. Second, while minerals are constantly washing into the ocean, natural processes are also at work maintaining the balance of nature, and the balance of the salinity of the ocean, by working to remove these minerals. A good example of these processes is the rapid removal of lead from the ocean. It is illegitimate to nullify inconvenient facts and evidence, both when analyzing the Bible or when analyzing the salinity of the ocean, (in a futile attempt to prop up what proves to be a falsified analysis of the Bible in the first place) but that is exactly what Biblical creation scientists and other reactionary apologists do, presenting what would appear to be a convincing argument from the Bible or a convincing argument for the age of the earth based on the rates of deposit of sediments into the oceans and the current salinity of the ocean. Whether ‘evidence' is presented from the Bible or from the world around us in the field of science, nullification of inconvenient facts and the selective presentation of deliberately falsified and carefully chosen ‘evidence' is practiced with the goal being the same in both cases - to support a preordained outcome. This is hardly science but rather once again proves to be right wing evangelism masquerading in whatever form is convenient for the moment.
A Unified Field Theory
The Unified Field Theory
is also available as a zip file -> unified.zip
Introduction :The Pioneer Effect and the New Physics. A brief description of the new physics required to explain the 'Pioneer Effect', which is the constant deceleration of space craft as they fly through space.