--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People who believe the earth was created…" description: "\"People who believe the earth was created 6000 years ago, when it's actually 4.5 billion years old, should also believe the width of North America is 8 ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70f/richard-dawkins-115_america_people-who-believe-the-earth-was-created_536295.jpg" --- # People who believe the earth was created 6000 years ago… ![“People who believe the earth was created 6000 years ago, when it's actually 4.5 billion years old, should also believe the width of North America is 8 yards. That is the scale of the error.” quote by Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70f/richard-dawkins-115_america_people-who-believe-the-earth-was-created_536295.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70f/richard-dawkins-115_america_people-who-believe-the-earth-was-created_536295.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70f/richard-dawkins-115_america_people-who-believe-the-earth-was-created_536295.jpg) > “People who believe the earth was created 6000 years ago, when it's actually 4.5 billion years old, should also believe the width of North America is 8 yards. That is the scale of the error.” [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The discrepancy between literal biblical age and scientific age illustrates how extreme literalism leads to absurd conclusions. **In simple terms:** Literalism creates absurd errors. Key Takeaway Question literalist claims critically. Themes science religion critical thinking Mood analytical skeptical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - debate - media consumption - policy making Key Concepts geology astronomy philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What evidence convinces you of scientific timelines? - How do you reconcile faith and evidence? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [North america](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/north-america/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [You'd have to be deaf, dumb, and blind to think that this earth that we live in only has 6000 years of existence. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-robertson/you-d-have-to-be-deaf-dumb-and-blind-to-think-that-this-earth-that-we/) [Pat Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-robertson/) > [You don't believe that the Earth is round only if you're an astronaut. You don't believe Napoleon existed only if you're a historian. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/you-don-t-believe-that-the-earth-is-round-only-if-you-re-an-astronaut/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [If God wanted to create life and create humans, it would be slightly odd that he should choose the extraordinarily roundabout way of waiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/if-god-wanted-to-create-life-and-create-humans-it-would-be-slightly/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The fact that life evolved out of nearly nothing, some 10 billion years after the universe evolved out of literally nothing, is a fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-fact-that-life-evolved-out-of-nearly-nothing-some-10-billion/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [All qualified physicists, biologists, cosmologists and geologists agree, on the basis of massive, mutually corroborating evidence, that the earth's age is at least four…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/all-qualified-physicists-biologists-cosmologists-and-geologists-agree/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The earth was created by the assistance of the sun, and it should be left as it was. The country was made without lines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-joseph/the-earth-was-created-by-the-assistance-of-the-sun-and-it-should-be-2/) [Chief Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-joseph/) > [Whether the earth was created in seven days or seven actual eras, I'm not sure we'll ever be able to answer that. It's one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/whether-the-earth-was-created-in-seven-days-or-seven-actual-eras-i-m/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [Man was created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord and in this way to save his soul. The other things on Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-ignatius/man-was-created-to-praise-reverence-and-serve-god-our-lord-and-in/) [Saint Ignatius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-ignatius/) > [“The same forces that created Earth created us. We are so much more magnificent than we imagine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-reynolds-thompson/the-same-forces-that-created-earth-created-us-we-are-so-much-more/) Mary Reynolds Thompson > [“Current theories on the creation of the Universe state that, if it were created at all and didn't just start, as it were, unofficially,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/current-theories-on-the-creation-of-the-universe-state-that-if-it/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“The Earth was created by the assistance of the sun, and it should be left as it was. The country was made with no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-joseph/the-earth-was-created-by-the-assistance-of-the-sun-and-it-should-be/) [Chief Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-joseph/) > [“Archbishop James Usher (1580-1656) published Annales Veteris et Novi Testaments in 1654, which suggested that the Heaven and the Earth were created in 4004…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/archbishop-james-usher-1580-1656-published-annales-veteris-et-novi/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Earth was created for all of us, not some of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-d-williams/earth-was-created-for-all-of-us-not-some-of-us/) [Anthony D. Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-d-williams/) > [God created the Heavens, he created the earth! He created all the Hulkamaniacs! Then, he created a set of 24-inch pythons, brother!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hulk-hogan/god-created-the-heavens-he-created-the-earth-he-created-all-the/) [Hulk Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hulk-hogan/) > [“Although there was no reliable way of dating periods, there was no shortage of people willing to try. The most well known early attempt30…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/although-there-was-no-reliable-way-of-dating-periods-there-was-no/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) ## More by Richard Dawkins > [At the deepest level, all living things that have ever been looked at have the same DNA code. And many of the same genes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/at-the-deepest-level-all-living-things-that-have-ever-been-looked-at/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The word 'mundane' has come to mean 'boring' and 'dull', and it really shouldn't - it should mean the opposite. Because it comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-word-mundane-has-come-to-mean-boring-and-dull-and-it-really/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“The fundamentalist Kurt Wise proclaims that all the evidence in the universe would not change his mind. The true scientist, however passionately he may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-fundamentalist-kurt-wise-proclaims-that-all-the-evidence-in-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“I have found it an amusing strategy, when asked whether I am an atheist, to point out that the questioner is also an atheist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-have-found-it-an-amusing-strategy-when-asked-whether-i-am-an/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Religions do make claims about the universe--the same kinds of claims that scientists make, except they're usually false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/religions-do-make-claims-about-the-universe-the-same-kinds-of-claims/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“much of the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/much-of-the-bible-is-not-systematically-evil-but-just-plain-weird-as/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The recurrent laryngeal nerve - which runs from the head to the voice box - goes all the way down into the chest, loops…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-recurrent-laryngeal-nerve-which-runs-from-the-head-to-the-voice/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The Roman Catholic Church is an institution for whose gains the phrase "ill-gotten" might have been specially invented. And of all its money-making rip-offs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-roman-catholic-church-is-an-institution-for-whose-gains-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/let-us-understand-what-our-own-selfish-genes-are-up-to-because-we-may/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [What's going to happen when I die? I may be buried, or I may be cremated, I may give my body to science. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/what-s-going-to-happen-when-i-die-i-may-be-buried-or-i-may-be/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Or why it is acceptable to train fast runners and high jumpers but not to breed them. I can think of some answers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/or-why-it-is-acceptable-to-train-fast-runners-and-high-jumpers-but/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We have seen that living things are too improbable and too beautifully 'designed' to have come into existence by chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-have-seen-that-living-things-are-too-improbable-and-too/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“We will not go quietly away. If in the future that requires violence”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-will-not-go-quietly-away-if-in-the-future-that-requires-violence/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [It's a truly disgusting idea that the creator of the universe - capable of inventing the laws of physics and designing the evolutionary process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/it-s-a-truly-disgusting-idea-that-the-creator-of-the-universe-capable/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) [Explore all 1,239 Richard Dawkins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## More America quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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