"A simple “thought experiment” illustrates why assuming a constant 14C/C ratio yields inflated
radiocarbon ages. Suppose a time-traveling scientist journeys to the day before the Flood started and radiocarbon-tests the remains of an animal that has just died. If the pre-Flood 14C/C ratio was 500 times smaller than today’s value, this would be equivalent to 100 pMC/500 = 0.2 pMC. About nine half-lives would have to elapse for a starting value of 100 pMC to decrease to 0.2 pMC. If the scientist did not realize that the pre-Flood 14C/C ratio was hundreds of times smaller than today’s value, he would calculate the animal’s age to be approximately 9 × 5,730 years = 51,570 years old—even though it had just died! Of course, he would realize that this age was nonsense, because he saw the fresh carcass. But if a scientist in the present did not have this firsthand knowledge and attempted to date the fossil remains of this very same animal (assuming it was fossilized during the Flood), he would conclude that the animal was 52,000—not 4,500—years old.
Thus, these “inflated” ages are not a problem for the biblical creationist, but the presence of detectable 14C in supposedly ancient organic specimens is a substantial problem for those who believe in an old earth." ICR
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men;
1 Corinthians 1:25
Thus, these “inflated” ages are not a problem for the biblical creationist, but the presence of detectable 14C in supposedly ancient organic specimens is a substantial problem for those who believe in an old earth." ICR
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men;
1 Corinthians 1:25
