Krugman: Views Differ on Age of Planet

[SeanL]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Yeah, but the reason why you're so damn confident that I'd fall if I stepped off the side of a cliff is because it's an easily measurable/repeatable experiment... You can't explain why I'd fall (the theory), but you know that I will every time I try (the law) - it was your "I dare you to jump off a cliff" statement that created the context here.

The theory of relativity, on the other hand, is not so measurable - you'll just have to rely on faith unless you have a Millennium Falcon, since the stepping stone between theories and laws is tangibility... Which is why most science (especially theoretical science) is dependent on consensus - no different than religion (take a look at how the Talmud was assembled for reference.)

Actually the theory of relativity is very measurable. Your iPhone would not work without time dilation.

Here is a list of various tests for the theory of relativity:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tests_o...ral_relativity

And back to the topic of the discussion, the age of the earth is very measurable. Saying it is any younger than a couple of billion of years makes you look like an anti-science loon.