What We Can Learn in the Great Outdoors

When my son was perhaps 11, I took him camping for a few days in the High Sierras with some friends.  We needed to buy permits at the regional ranger station, and I noticed that it was replete with cross-sections of a few of the great old trees that had fallen and had been examined by scientists. What can we learn from biologic history?

I noted that the display didn’t mince words about the fact that the age of the Earth was far greater than the 6000 years, as specified in the Bible.  Here was hard evidence that the oldest tree is about 80K years old, not to mention that we have carbon dating that sets the death of the most recent dinosaurs at about 65 million years ago.

I asked the ranger if, occasionally, there were patrons who vehemently disagreed with the evidence in the displays on the basis of their religious beliefs.

“Constantly,”  she replied, and when asked how she responded, “By immediately changing the subject.  My favorites are: ‘OK, take plenty of water,’ and ‘That’s very interesting.  The black bears are harmless, but stay away from the grizzlies.'”