On Tuesday, May 31, 2016 at 8:18:39 AM UTC-7, Gordon Banks via wrote: > Do you think a descent from Noah would be any less mythological than > one from Wotan? Clearly, yes, the original poster does believe this (based on this and previous posts from same). Indeed, past posts have made it clear that part of the objection to DNA analysis is its failure to conform to a particular religiously-sanctioned version of human origin and dispersal. (I wasn't going to comment on this, but since the issue has been raised...) > > On May 29, 2016, at 19:58, Thomas.Milton.Tinney@lists2.rootsweb.com wrote: > > > > Ignorance, False Promises and Pseudoscience: Is This > > Profit Promotion of DNA Fiction by Senior Genealogists? It takes a certain degree of knowledge to comfortably call others ignorant (that or a lack of self-awareness). More on pseudoscience later. > > In 2013, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints suggested . . . > > Is this a serious public relations mistake, for an organization, noted > > for being the source of all truth, You must be aware that to the outside world, the LDS church is not noted for this particular attribute - indeed the majority of people on the planet would reject this characterization. There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your theology. > > Well, from a Biblical standpoint, this is indeed true. To use this sentence in an argument accusing others of practicing pseudoscience is somewhat ironic. > > We are all related as descending posterity of the prophet Noah, whose > > cousin relatives and ancestry, consisting of all mankind living prior > > to the flood, were then DNA hourglass squeezed into the one small family > > unit that survived. If you are going to accuse others of ignorance, you could at least use the appropriate terminology - the technical term for this is a 'bottleneck', not an 'hourglass'. > > [" . . . Even if we use rates appropriate for the present world (x = 1 > > and C = 1.5), over 3 billion people could easily have been on the earth > > at the time of Noah."]. Though you give no credit, you are here quoting creationist Henry Morris, who used this calculation as just one of several, none of them with the slightest basis in reality. Using current population dynamics to model a hypothetical pre-flood scenario is dubious given how different modern times are from previous centuries. taf