Both are sound arguments, and ironically I've watched a program on the latter, which showed a milky volcanic brew from some location in Hawaii. On your side of the debate, here's another with statistics (Kurzweilai is one of my favorite people to read):
http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?main=memelist.html?m=1%23610
When I was younger (Spock was my hero as a child) and working as an analytical Chemist, I was on your side of the debate. I couldn't rationalize how any sensible person could see things differently. But now that my eggs are in many baskets and I've lived a bit, I see things differently (my home page tells the story). From a scientific perspective, your argument is as sound (if not sounder) than the other chemist.