Geology - SOS - arguing with an idiot about the Great Flood.?

[Rebecca]

Help please. Am arguing with a young earth creationist on Twitter who is claiming that there is enough water on this planet to cover the whole earth by kilometres because the earth was smooth then and there were no mountains and the ocean floors rose vertically during the flood. Clearly this is nonsense because mountain ranges are know to be millions of years old. The great flood is nonsense for numerous reasons obviously, not least because many civilisations continued recording their history throughout it but he does not accept geological dating and is insisting the world was smooth 5500 years ago.

Does anyone know of any historical evidence which can prove the world was not smooth that long ago? I had found a copy of a map drawn over 5000 years ago of a mountain range in the Mediterranean but realised its just this side of when the bible claims the flood was. Anyone know of any documents or art which survives from before then which talk of or show mountains? The bloke just dismisses science.

[ashley]

You can't fix stupid. There is no point in arguing with this person, he will never admit defeat no matter what you do or what evidence you present. Creationists have a tendency to twist logic. I suggest that you don't waste your time.

[M]

fossil (3.5 billion years old)
rocks (4.6 billion years old)
meteorite sample (14+ billion years old)

[James]

If the surface of the earth is smooth, the depth of water would be 2.7 km- a significant depth. The outflow channels of Mars are an analog of the Noachian Flood. Here gigantic floods erupted through the crust creating what is called Chaotic Terrain and carving canyons up to 200 km wide and 3 km deep. Clearly, flooding on a scale large enough to produce a global flood is in the realm of possibility. American creationist view the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic sediments composing mountain ranges as flood or post flood deposits and that mountains were formed post crest. Global floods are common in the oral histories of many cultures around the world. A few decades ago, any type of mega flood would be an socially unacceptable belief in the scientific community. While a global flood is presently unacceptable, recent trends are making catastrophism to be more accepted. They may or may not become creationists, but at some point in the future everyone will be global catastrophists. Science is a process to bring about a "meeting of the minds" by experimentally testing and observation. A historical event is largely outside of this rigorous standard and,as a consequence, much more subjectively evaluated. The reason not everyone believes "science" is because the science is inadequate.

[FA]

You are unfortunately wasting your time. No matter what you present or what arguments you use, they will either be twisted or dismissed out of hand as either unreliable or part of some conspiracy to deny god. Ultimately you will end up with the argument going around in circles and you'll eventually either get angry or give up, at which point the creationist will declare victory. Best to let them wallow in their own ignorance.

However, should you choose to continue you could try asking how we can have large impact craters. If he thinks the flood would have caused the floors to rise, how can it also account for localised, randomly distributed, large depressions containing minerals subjected to a high level of shock metamorphism (meteor crater might be a good example to use) consistent with instant delivery of a pressure more than two orders of magnitude higher than that present at the bottom of the Marianas Trench. Yet there is no record of it actually happening, meaning it must have predated the flood. If the power of the flood was as great as the creationist says, it should not be there.

However, as I said, I'd strongly recommend you just leave it.

[Harry Potter]

Never argue with idiots. Their god is supposed to be perfect, but jut point them at Google Earth to see what a mess the subterranean surface is. Our planet was hit by another billions of years ago and you can see the result of that. Perfect beings, by definition, can only create perfect things and the Earth ain't perfect is it?