Study: Most American Adults Flunk Basic Science

[pmerritt]

I know i'm gonna get flamed for this but.....i don't really give a flying

 

[joemamasmurf]

[citation][nom]Curnel_D [/nom]Here's someone who has his head on straight. I don’t care who or what science institute, text book publisher, or theorist decides what the 'mass' should learn, but carbon dating itself is based on theory. To base facts like "Only 59 percent of adults know that the earliest humans and dinosaurs did not live at the same time." off of theory is just absurd, and it's exactly why 400 years ago we still thought the earth was flat. !
So to assume that dinosaurs came first just because they have more carbon buildup on their fossilized bones just makes an ass out of yourself, and every one you teach it to.
[/citation]
I want to start off by saying that I am an old Earth creationist and a chemist. So much about that statement is wrong, that it's ridiculous. Carbon 14(the element used in Carbon dating) has a known and thoroughly proven half-life, so to see it is a theory is an entirely false claim. On a related note, I've always found it funny that conservative (for lack of a better term) Christians like Carbon dating when it fits their agenda, yet when it returns something they don't like it is suddenly bad science.
Also, Carbon dating is not performed using buildup of carbon on fossils, it is in fact the opposite, it measures the decay of carbon.