Date: Wed, 03 Aug 2005 00:57:58 -0400
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
From: "Mike B." <omni at omniphile.com>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Numbers [Resent to not use Unicode or HTML]
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

At 11:42 PM 8/2/05 -0400, Keith F. Lynch wrote:

>There has also recently been a rasff discussion about Bible
>literalism.

Did anyone suggest that the Eden story in Genesis is actually about growing
up and moving out of your parents' home?  Seems pretty obvious to me...

>kept the 2 million Israelites well watered during their forty years
>in the desert would have had to have had the volume of Niagara.  That
>popped my sense-of-scale bogometer, so I promptly posted a correction.
>As did several others.  It's not often I *defend* creationism, but
>fair's fair.  Two million isn't all that many people.  A fire hose
>would suffice.

You just popped mine.  In desert conditions you can easily need several
gallons of water a day to survive (if you are traveling, a bit less if you
can make shade and just rest).  Even at one gallon a day that's two million
gallons a day.  A typical fire hose is running at well under 350
gal/minute.  A typical fire *hydrant* can supply about 500 gal/min if you
use big enough hoses (a pair of 2.5" or bigger for instance).  If we assume
you get as much as the hydrant can supply, that's 720,000 gal/day.  Even
with ridiculously conservative/generous figures, you just lost 64% of your
population.  With realistic numbers for personal consumption and what a
typical hose can supply, you lose a lot more.

It's a lot less than Niagara, but it's a lot more than a fire hose too.  it
gets worse if they need to grow any food of course.

-- Mike B.
--
In theory, theory and reality are the same.  In reality, they are not.