I don't have the endurance or fortitude to respond to your tome in depth, but I suspect others will.
However allow me to cherry pick just one exchange
Razd writes:
Notice that the evidence - fact - is that the earliest life we know of existed 3.5 billion years ago - cyanobacteria fossils in rocks.
Murky writes:
It is absolutely and equivocally NOT a fact that the earliest life we know existed 3.5 billion years ago (maybe the fact that this date has changed a dozen times might be a clue). It is a theoretical conclusion based on a presuppositional interpretation of known facts. A different interpretation of these same known facts (evidence) would place the creation of life around 6000 years ago.
The date for the earliest life is always changing - but always in the direction of being older. Which is what you would expect as discovery continues and more previously unrevealed evidence is unearth.
You seem to hint that this is a weakness, when in fact, it is a sign of strength, as the answer is getting more and more closer to reality.
Consider that in cosmology there has been a series of historical paradigm shifts that have "changed a dozen times". These shifts have lead us away from stories and myths to a much closer understanding of reality. The ancient presupposition that the earth is the center of the universe is not strengthened by the fact that the presupposition hasn't changed in millenia - it is falsified by the discovery of new data and supplanted by new and better theories.
Murky writes:
A different interpretation of these same known facts (evidence) would place the creation of life around 6000 years ago.
Yep but not all interpretations are equal. For example, an earth centric interpretation of the planetary motions will only take you so far. The earth centric Ptolemic system can do an o.k. job of calculating the position of planets. However, it resorts to complexity with respect to retrograde orbit observations and other difficulties. The heliocentric model does a much better job and is simpler. Same data - two different interpretations. If you are going to navigate to Mars better use the heliocentric model.
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