Over the past ten years or so I’ve been hearing this word “creationism.” It seems that it’s the opposite of “evolutionism.”
No problem – until I read about people trying to “prove” creationism. And articles trying to refute it.
I’m not sure what the big hubbub is about. 20 years ago I heard a guy make a simple statement about it all. He proved creationism in 30 seconds.
And it was a mathematical argument.
Before I give you that 30 second super-statement, let’s chat a little about what a real mathematical proof looks like.
Math starts with definitions.
We say, “Okay, here’s the deal. Let’s define a nebino as a number that’s greater than all prime numbers,” or something of that nature. (And yes, you get to make up your own words if you want.)
No math – none – ever starts out with confusing terms. If it does, someone jumps in and says, “You’ve got stuff that isn’t defined clearly.”
Everything shuts down until that gets resolved.
Math assumes… well… assumptions.
Once you have your definitions clear, you get to set up what you assume. This actually might come before the defining part. And often it isn’t said out loud at all.
Which is one reason that scientists sometimes think that they can do math. They’re always assuming the world (i.e. reality). Mathematicians don’t cotton to such vast and willy-nilly assumptions.
Then you get your hands dirty.
You’ve got definitions and you know what you’re assuming. You’re foundation is down. Now you build.
In other words, you create some math.
But things don’t always work out like you planned. So…
If it doesn’t work, you change the definitions or assumptions.
Yep – sometimes we really want something to work, so we just go back and tweak some of the starter points. Which means we change a definition or add (or delete) an assumption.
(Which means if you’re using someone’s math, you have to make sure you’re working with the same definitions and set of assumptions.)
And that’s the best argument for Creationism.
The statement I heard from this Creationist was, in essence, this:
We don’t have to use any evidence of science to prove God created the world in 7 days, 6,000 years ago. God planted the fossils and created all sorts of nifty things like DNA that would contradict the Bible. It was all meant to test our faith.
Voila! Creationism proven.
Brilliant! Change the assumptions, and you’re there.
Beliefs are just that: beliefs.
Which means there’s just no proving them. Kinda like my thoughts on the real line. I don’t believe in it – to the chagrin of my Twitter friend Colin.
So if you want to prove something, change the rules. Or ignore them. Mathematicians do it all the time.
*If you’re really really interested in my beliefs, I’ve shared them here.
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