[bruinbirdman]

He lost me at 12,000 BP. I know the athiests insist on BCE (before common era?) for Before Christ. But what the heck is B.P.?

yitbos - "Those who control language control minds. " - Ayn Rand

[gleeaikin]

BP contrary to ignorant belief is not an oil company. It means Before the Present. I think it is calibrated to 1950 because of some problem related to Carbon 14 dating, possible after the nuclear age. Perhaps someone else can clarify that.

[Tax Government]

BP - before present

[RWR8189]

 Before Present

[null and void]

BP=Before Present.

It's the notation preferred by scientists sponsored by British Petroleum (/joke)

[ASA Vet]

BP is no sillier than the rest of the hundreds of dating systems developed over the past thousands of years.
I suppose it being fixed at 1950 doesn't really matter when it's used to refer to events millions or hundreds of millions of years ago.

Many of the current systems are based on some temporary (in geologic terms)super-naturalist belief system.
It would be real difficult to have a permanent dating system since nothing is permanent (except change.)

[Lazamataz]

He lost me at 12,000 BP. I know the athiests insist on BCE (before common era?) for Before Christ. But what the heck is B.P.?

British Petroleum.

[King Prout]

BP = Before Present, a bit more erudite-sounding than "YA"

[Varda]

BCE is an anti-Christian term of propaganda (because its a perversion of a Christian calendar). BP is an actual dating notation. Sometimes you’ll see ya (years ago) as well.

[Fred Nerks]

B.P.

Before the present.