Monday, November 19, 2012

Age of the Earth

In an interview with GQ magazine, current republican senator and future presidential hopeful Marco Rubio was asked the question, "How old do you think the Earth is?" His answer is below.
Marco Rubio: I'm not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that's a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I'm not a scientist. I don't think I'm qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I'm not sure we'll ever be able to answer that. It's one of the great mysteries.
First, I dislike the framing of that question. The question wasn't, "How old is the Earth?", but "How old do you think it is?" Question phrasing aside, as an Earth scientist, I am dismayed the answer that was given wasn't "about four and a half billion years old." I am dismayed because it is matter of scientific fact, not opinion. Scientists may disagree about the forth or fifth significant figure in the answer, but the basic fact is pretty well established: the Earth is about 4.5 billion year old.

Granted, I appreciate Senator Rubio's admission that the subject of the question is outside his area of expertise. And it is also true that the answer may have little to do with the day-to-day concerns of life or our economy. But I think it is a mistake to conflate biblical literalism with the scientific realism, and to present both as equal ends of a spectrum that non-specialists are unqualified to adjudicate. Science should not be a Republican thing or a Democratic thing. It is the same for both - it is equally applicable to all. Facts are facts, period.