First, the term creationist is generally applied to both young-earth creationists (YEC) and old-earth creationists (OEC). You, as a potential OEC, still seem to hang on to YEC principles such as a recent creation of life with this statement:
Maybe God created the cosmos and let the dirt age a while before forming Adam from it.
If that's the case, why accept the appearance of the earth's age while denying the appearance of life's age? If that's not the case, I apologize for the misrepresentation.
Now, you lose me with this statement:
...the idea of any blind process developing the unimaginably numerous complexities and specializations we see is ludicrous.
I guess it all hinges on what you mean by "blind," but the implication is pretty clear. Ludicrous is a strong word. There are lots of people that have dedicated long hours, careers, even lives to the pursuit of knowledge. The conclusion of that pursuit is overwhelmingly in favor of that which you (mis)characterize as "blind."
Now that I'm through with my hissy fit, I'd like to point out that science has found lots of global catastrophic events, and they nicely fit with the evidence we see. Check out the evidence of the dinosaur extinction at the K-T boundary. There's a layer of soil with all the stuff you'd expect to be formed during a large asteroid impact. Below that layer are dinosaurs. Above it, no dinosaurs except a few birds. Many other species suffered great losses.
Events like this actually can contribute to diversity. When large groups are killed off, other organisms are free to spread into previously saturated niches when the environment recovers. Smaller populations are more likely to have isolated groups, which tend to change (evolve) more rapidly.
There is a point of yours I can empathize with. You said you're bummed by this post with all questions and no answers. Scientists feel this way frequently. Every question answered opens up several new ones. It can be discouraging, but there's no reason to give up on the process and just wait around for an audience with your mythological creator. :^)
Problem for evolution?
First, the term creationist is generally applied to both young-earth creationists (YEC) and old-earth creationists (OEC). You, as a potential OEC, still seem to hang on to YEC principles such as a recent creation of life with this statement:
Maybe God created the cosmos and let the dirt age a while before forming Adam from it.
If that's the case, why accept the appearance of the earth's age while denying the appearance of life's age? If that's not the case, I apologize for the misrepresentation.
Now, you lose me with this statement:
...the idea of any blind process developing the unimaginably numerous complexities and specializations we see is ludicrous.
I guess it all hinges on what you mean by "blind," but the implication is pretty clear. Ludicrous is a strong word. There are lots of people that have dedicated long hours, careers, even lives to the pursuit of knowledge. The conclusion of that pursuit is overwhelmingly in favor of that which you (mis)characterize as "blind."
Now that I'm through with my hissy fit, I'd like to point out that science has found lots of global catastrophic events, and they nicely fit with the evidence we see. Check out the evidence of the dinosaur extinction at the K-T boundary. There's a layer of soil with all the stuff you'd expect to be formed during a large asteroid impact. Below that layer are dinosaurs. Above it, no dinosaurs except a few birds. Many other species suffered great losses.
Events like this actually can contribute to diversity. When large groups are killed off, other organisms are free to spread into previously saturated niches when the environment recovers. Smaller populations are more likely to have isolated groups, which tend to change (evolve) more rapidly.
There is a point of yours I can empathize with. You said you're bummed by this post with all questions and no answers. Scientists feel this way frequently. Every question answered opens up several new ones. It can be discouraging, but there's no reason to give up on the process and just wait around for an audience with your mythological creator. :^)