Right Divider
Body part
What context would that be?Common descent in this context is always from a single common ancestor. Of course one needs to pay attention if they need to be more specific.
Similar structures is not, ipso facto, any indication of common descent from a single common ancestor.It is true that many living things have similar structures, and it is true that we can measure the half life of unstable molecules.
Regarding radiometric dating. We can measure those half lives at the present time. That tells us nothing about what might have happened in past, nor does it tell us how they originated in the first place. Therefore, any attempt to use them to date anything is highly problematic.
That is the common ground I can use to get a discussion. So what I get a common descentist to do is realize that all their arguments eventually rest on these two points - similarity of how cherry-picked things look and radiometric dating. Then I can show them the weakness of both of those two points and they start to question all of common descent since the foundation of common descent is a mirage. It's just a tactic but it's worked before so I'll try it again.
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