“1.77 million years ago”
How in the heck do they know this? I mean, how long do things really last? Why not say 1 freakin’ million years? Why not 10 thousand years? I just can’t wrap my brain around this.
Because by saying 1.77 million years they think they sound legit. Of course, as they try filling in the gaps they got to squeeze this stuff in somewhere. Guess they put their peer heads together and vote on it.
They know this because radio metric dating is extremely accurate. There isn't the space or the time to go over it in detail here, but you might as well ask how do they know how far away the stars are. Suffice it to say that an understanding of the sciences of chemistry and physics have given us the tools to figure these things out very accurately.
(and no I don't care to debate it right now, and yes I am a devout Christian)
Probably by looking at their place in the geologic column, which has been dated radiometrically. Maybe someone with a Nature subscription can give us a better answer?
I mean, how long do things really last?
At least 1.77 million years, I guess.
Why not say 1 freakin’ million years?
Because that would be about 770 thousand years off. A more technical paper would also give a margin of error, but this is only Reuters.
Why not 10 thousand years? I just can’t wrap my brain around this.
Ten thousand years would be even more off. Wrapping one's brain around big numbers is hard--that's how Congress gets away with spending what they do. Few people have a concept of what a million, a billion, a trillion are. Mathematically, one knows they exist, but the implication of the number is often ignored or rejected--perhaps because it's so difficult to picture, it's so far outside the numbers we usually count and experience in some tangible form.
As for the article, this is curious. Neanderthals are theorized to have had larger brains than us but less useful legs, but this erectus or proto-erectus had good legs and a tiny brain.
How in the heck do they know this? I mean, how long do things really last? Why not say 1 freakin’ million years? Why not 10 thousand years? I just can’t wrap my brain around this.
The 'dating' is probably not accurate but as close as modern man can calculate. These bones and their ancient existence does not in any way disagree with what the Bible literally says. What there is literally no evidence to demonstrate is that flesh man descended from the ancient bones.