# Noah's Ark - Factually correct **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 22, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018 "2014-05-22T17:31:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/81 "2014-05-24T16:03:35Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Actually many animals do hibernate like bears. The vast majority of animals do not hibernate. (In fact, technically bears don’t hibernate either. They just undergo winter dormancy.) ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/82 "2014-05-25T01:23:27Z")
As far as how to fit all the animals on the ark and deal with their feeding and sanitation issues? Clearly the ark was constructed with Galifreyan technology, admittedly primitive tech, but Galifreyan tech all the same… The ark clearly was bigger on the inside! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/83 "2014-05-25T04:25:41Z")
> [@troubledwater](#): > > It’s been awhile since I read Davis Quammen’s _Song of the Dodo_. ISTR that in it he states that the Victorians (maybe it was people from an earlier age, but it’s the Victorians in my memory) did exactly this, redefine the cubit, as explorers brought back more and more specimens of hitherto unknown species, for whom accommodations had to be accounted for on the ark. > “Oh see, when they say a _cubit_, what they really mean is a _great cubit_. Those are ten times as long as your standard cubit.” > That interpretation did indeed allow them to assume a much much larger ark. Riiiight! What’s a cubit? Hmm, a cubit. A cubit. Let’s see, I used to know what a cubit was. Well, never mind that, Noah. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/84 "2014-05-25T04:50:31Z")
> [@Twoflower](#): > > You’re kidding, right? That link is more full of horseshit than the aforementioned bottom of the ark. I’ll admit it’s not the best link but the basics of finding a boat shaped depression in the ground which showed strong indications of carbon and metals, and even a metal rivet, plus the nearby anchor stones, are certainly NOT HS and should be studied by other archeologists. Please try and keep an open mind. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/85 "2014-05-25T04:53:23Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I’ll admit it’s not the best link but the basics of finding a boat shaped depression in the ground which showed strong indications of carbon and metals, and even a metal rivet, plus the nearby anchor stones, are certainly NOT HS and should be studied by other archeologists. > > Please try and keep an open mind. Not the best link? That’s putting it mildly. As for keeping an open mind, I’m not going to keep it open enough that my brain falls out. :dubious: I’ll stick with the Noah’s Ark at Kennywood, thank you very much! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/86 "2014-05-25T05:22:07Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I’ll admit it’s not the best link but the basics of finding a boat shaped depression in the ground which showed strong indications of carbon and metals, and even a metal rivet, plus the nearby anchor stones, are certainly NOT HS and should be studied by other archeologists. > > Please try and keep an open mind. [Talkorigins article about the anchor stones.](http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CH/CH503_1.html). They were commonly made by pagans, with the holes meant for lamps. More telling, they are made of rock local to the area, not Noah’s supposed point of origin. [Another one on the supposed boat.](http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CH/CH503.html) As for the visitor’s center, it just means that the Turkish government is smart enough not to lighten up fundamentalist chumps. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/87 "2014-05-25T18:07:30Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > I just think of it as the ultimate rage quit. That’s going to piss God off more than gay marriage. ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/88 "2014-05-25T22:32:32Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Not the best link? That’s putting it mildly. As for keeping an open mind, I’m not going to keep it open enough that my brain falls out. :dubious: > > I’ll stick with the Noah’s Ark at Kennywood, thank you very much! Remember people “_An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded_.” The Ordos Hereticus is watching this thread closely. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/89 "2014-05-28T12:58:16Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > I submit that the story of Noah’s Ark is historically factual and here’s why: > > While driving in a rural area the other day my radio lost the signal of my normal station. I hit the seek button and came upon a a Christian station and the topic of discussion was Noah’s Ark and how it was completely plausible that two of every living thing were aboard during the great flood. Including dinosaurs. > > Not possible for a mere eight people to feed all those animals, you say? No problem. Just keep the food stored directly across from the cages and not in some other part of the ark. Also, most animals don’t really have to eat every day so you don’t have to feed every animal every day, anyway. > > Specific dietary needs like Pandas and bamboo or Koala Bears and eucalyptus? Evidently, if you get the _right_ Panda it may eat corn stalks and if you get the _right_ Koala they can be tricked into eating other things that have been sprayed with eucalyptus oil. > > Dino’s too big to be on the ark? Do you think Noah was an idiot and tried to bring full grown Stegasaurs on board? No. He just brought eggs (which are only 18" long). When the eggs hatch the babies are smaller than a horse so there’s no issue with space. > > I can’t remember exactly how the carnivores managed to live long enough until all the herbivores re-populated but it was an equally compelling explanation. I think they said that they (just temporarily) became vegetarians. You’ve seen dogs and cats eat grass, right? > > And, just in case you are still a skeptic, here are the aces in the hole. First, it says so in the Bible. Second, to doubt is to question God and his teachings and THAT is exactly what led to the ark be necessary in the first place. What do you want? Another flood?! DUH! > > With such cogent explanations being so readily available, I’m embarrassed to admit that I ever doubted. Thank god for rural radio. The Lord works in mysterious ways and I have been saved. How about you? First of all, it is just a belief that the bible is the word or work of God. If the entire earth was filled to 29,000 feet the only way for the water to go would be to evaporate, The length of time for that to evaporate to 15,000 feet would cause so much humidity The people or animals wouldn’t be able to breathe, then it would also take time for the other 15,000 feet to evaporate, and since the earth is said to be entirely covered with that much water, there would be a lot of water left for the Ark to sit down on Ararat. Plus all the insects worms etc., and plant life would die after being covered with that much water, there is no way a psalm tree would have leaves.There are many other things impossible in the story. There may have been a flood, but only in an area and it was exaggerated to make a nice story. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2014, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/90 "2014-05-28T13:01:20Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > First of all, it is just a belief that the bible is the word or work of God. If the entire earth was filled to 29,000 feet the only way for the water to go would be to evaporate, The length of time for that to evaporate to 15,000 feet would cause so much humidity The people or animals wouldn’t be able to breathe, then it would also take time for the other 15,000 feet to evaporate, and since the earth is said to be entirely covered with that much water, there would be a lot of water left for the Ark to sit down on Ararat. Plus all the insects worms etc., and plant life would die after being covered with that much water, there is no way a psalm tree would have leaves.There are many other things impossible in the story. There may have been a flood, but only in an area and it was exaggerated to make a nice story. I would also add that just getting the animals from other parts of the world would be some challenge, and their swimming back to where they came from must have been quite a trip! ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/91 "2014-05-29T14:41:47Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > Oh, so then you never even noticed the creation story is in there twice and contradicts itself? > > Genesis 2:5-7 > > They just got done saying he created light-\> sky -\> water/earth -\> plants -\> animals -\> man. Which is it? > > Of course how can you expect a book that’s a few thousand years old and which was copied and translated by hand for centuries to be the most exact thing around if it was true? I don’t believe the Bible is a historical tale, and I am not religious, but this one can be explained logically: Genesis 1 is chronological, Genesis 2 is a summary. Like 9/11 can be explained minute by minute, or just say “Two hijacked planes hit the World Trade Towers and they fell, another plane hit the Pentagon, and another plane crashed in Pennsylvania.” ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/92 "2014-05-29T14:57:59Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I don’t believe the Bible is a historical tale, and I am not religious, but this one can be explained logically: Genesis 1 is chronological, Genesis 2 is a summary. > > Like 9/11 can be explained minute by minute, or just say “Two hijacked planes hit the World Trade Towers and they fell, another plane hit the Pentagon, and another plane crashed in Pennsylvania.” The Genesis “summary” appears to be chronological. Your example is also chronological. Yet the Genesis 2 account doesn’t match the other one, so instead of saying someone made a mistake, you want it to be sequentially garbled. Why would God be so confusing? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/93 "2014-05-29T16:13:29Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > Evidently, if you get the _right_ Panda it may eat corn stalks I realize that pointing out logical error in these “explanations” is fatuous. But no one in the Old World had seen “corn” (American maize) until after Columbus. It’s like they’re not even trying very hard; they must have no respect for anyone they’re explaining this to. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/94 "2014-05-29T16:19:26Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > I would also add that just getting the animals from other parts of the world would be some challenge, and their swimming back to where they came from must have been quite a trip! And I’d like to add that the OP was done tongue-in-cheek. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/95 "2014-05-29T17:14:17Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > The Genesis “summary” appears to be chronological. Your example is also chronological. Yet the Genesis 2 account doesn’t match the other one, so instead of saying someone made a mistake, you want it to be sequentially garbled. > > Why would God be so confusing? > > :rolleyes: God exists outside of time. For him, everything happens all at once. No wonder he can’t keep the sequence straight. Or more likely, he’s just senile.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/96 "2014-05-29T17:30:17Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > First of all, it is just a belief that the bible is the word or work of God. If the entire earth was filled to 29,000 feet the only way for the water to go would be to evaporate, The length of time for that to evaporate to 15,000 feet would cause so much humidity The people or animals wouldn’t be able to breathe, then it would also take time for the other 15,000 feet to evaporate, and since the earth is said to be entirely covered with that much water, there would be a lot of water left for the Ark to sit down on Ararat. Plus all the insects worms etc., and plant life would die after being covered with that much water, there is no way a psalm tree would have leaves.There are many other things impossible in the story. There may have been a flood, but only in an area and it was exaggerated to make a nice story. You’re forgetting the firmament. We think of a round planet and a sun that is one of many stars spread over a vast distance. We think of the cycle of water between the atmosphere and the earth as being the only way to cause a flood. The OT was in line with Babylonian cosmology. The universe is water. To create a space for the world, XXX divided the waters to make a space for dry land, which is flat. The pillars of the heavens hold up the firmament, which is holding back the waters both above and below the earth. During the flood, XXX made big openings in the firmament to allow water through. Rain, possibly, comes through smaller holes, under divine control. So after the flood, XXX would have to push water back beyond the firmament, or the ground would have to absorb it, or maybe there’s somewhere underground that all rain goes. The point is that no one hearing the story back in the day would have thought that the water would need to evaporate or that the only place it could go was into the admosphere. It would drain away, like all floods do, possibly over the edges of the earth, possibly being divinely shifted outside the bubble, whichever way XXX wanted to do it this time. Oh, and the stars were attached to the inside of the firmament. It was a smaller universe. According to the Tower of Babylon story, the firmament was close enough that there was a danger of building a stone building high enough to reach it. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/97 "2014-05-29T18:42:24Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > “You never even looked in the bottom of that Ark! Have you looked down there? No? Who’s gonna clean up that mess down there?” Poop floats, therefore the ark’s seaworthiness actually improved over time. Why, with enough poop in the hold, it could have hydrofoiled. And given the improved top speed of the hydrofoil, it was easy to zip around to China, Australia etc to drop off the weird exotic animals. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/98 "2014-05-29T19:15:20Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > God exists outside of time. For him, everything happens all at once. No wonder he can’t keep the sequence straight. > > Or more likely, he’s just senile.😉 Or God dwells in the Bajoran wormhole. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/99 "2014-05-31T17:00:52Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > You’re forgetting the firmament. We think of a round planet and a sun that is one of many stars spread over a vast distance. We think of the cycle of water between the atmosphere and the earth as being the only way to cause a flood. > > The OT was in line with Babylonian cosmology. The universe is water. To create a space for the world, XXX divided the waters to make a space for dry land, which is flat. The pillars of the heavens hold up the firmament, which is holding back the waters both above and below the earth. During the flood, XXX made big openings in the firmament to allow water through. Rain, possibly, comes through smaller holes, under divine control. So after the flood, XXX would have to push water back beyond the firmament, or the ground would have to absorb it, or maybe there’s somewhere underground that all rain goes. > > The point is that no one hearing the story back in the day would have thought that the water would need to evaporate or that the only place it could go was into the admosphere. It would drain away, like all floods do, possibly over the edges of the earth, possibly being divinely shifted outside the bubble, whichever way XXX wanted to do it this time. > > Oh, and the stars were attached to the inside of the firmament. It was a smaller universe. According to the Tower of Babylon story, the firmament was close enough that there was a danger of building a stone building high enough to reach it. I doubt that anyone believes that story either. Because some one wrote it doesn’t make it the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018/100 "2014-05-31T17:11:11Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Please try and keep an open mind. Please try to not keep an empty one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/noahs-ark-factually-correct/689018.md?page=6)