The Population of The Earth

A typical creationist argument centres on the Earth's population. The claim is made that on the basis of the Earth's current population of 6 billon people there are too few of us to account for population growth over a period vastly longer than 10,000 years.

Initially introduced by creationist Henry Morris this approach to population growth takes the measured growth rate over a given period (in this case recent history) and, assuming that growth rate to be constant, extrapolates it back over a period of time to conclude that if the world was as old as science claims then the current population would be more than the current Earth could possibly support.

The assumption ignores the effect of modern health care, agriculture etc. in curing disease and preventing loss of life during childbirth. It also ignores the effects of resources, wars, various epidemics and other factors encountered throughout human history. This, however, did not stop Henry Morris (and many, many subsequent creationists) from using this as the central theme to an argument designed to “prove” that the human race not only could but in fact did arise from a single pair of mythical humans, Adam & Eve.

Morris goes on to say that, assuming an original breeding pair (Adam & Eve) that allowing for a million years of population growth (at a quarter of the current rate) there would be more people alive than there would be electrons in the universe. That the same argument could be used with reference to eight bacteria that, given sufficient resources, a generous “die-off” rate (say 66%) and a week of growth (dividing every 60 minutes or so) would result in a million bacteria for every cubic inch of living-space available on the earth (Matson, 1994).

Morris' mathematics are adequate but the manner in which they are applied constitutes appalling execution since the conclusions he arrives at are done so on the back of untenable assumptions and deliberate ignorance of the way in which such factors operate in the real world. Quite simply the fact that the current growth rate is a particular rate is no reason to assume that a past rate is identical ... biological systems (humans included) are simply not predictable, except in the most general terms, in this manner. Additionally there is plenty of evidence to indicate that the growth rate seen today would be vastly reduced in the past ... many people have no children at all & people die through accident, disease and war.

Additionally Morris also seems to forget that some 200 years after his original breeding pair (Adam & Eve) started there was (he claims) a global flood which wiped the majority of the population from the Earth and brought the breeding population down to a mere eight.

Again the creationists are using the method of extrapolating recent data back through time to prove something based on a flawed assumption i.e. that the rate of growth was constant and that it was unaffected by other factors. The argument is carried out in a typically creationist manner in that any of the aspects of the argument that falsifiable are refuted if any evidence is raised that would actually falsify them.

1. “Population Rates And The Age Of The Earth”, Lenny Flank (1995)
2. “Information for all biologists”, Morden (1995)
3. “Young Earth Proof #25”, Dave Matson (1994)