jmh:
I agree with you that it is valid to ask what the purpose of these bones might be. But I don’t think that drawing a conclusion that is antithetical to conventional Rabbincal knowledge is valid. The same question can be asked why Hashem created an Earth that appears flat, a sun that appears to revolve around the Earth etc., deliberately misleading people. I doubt you would say that the Earth must have really been flat since the available methods of observation at the time indicated this. But Hashem could have created the Earth in such a way as to appear ellipsoidal. For whose benefit was that? It is to this that I believe R’ Gottleib is saying the answer is irrelevant. Why Hashem created the appearance of heliocentrism is irrelevant to the reality, He has His reason obviously, but that reason is not because the galaxy really follows the heliocentric model.
I understand that radiometric dating is derived from the rules of nature. But it is still possible for science to determine that certain natural events (such as the numerous cataclysmic events brought in chazal) altered the results of these dating methods. Science is hardly immutable. Because of that, although we can look to science as a resource, it can’t be any more of an authority of nature than say, Josephus on Jewish history. It is probably correct, except for where we know its wrong.
I’m not saying that dinosaurs couldn’t have existed as living creatures- just that a solution should only be proposed within the parameters of chazal. Proposing conventional scientific belief without any modification though, is problematic because it includes abiogenesis, macro-evolution and a relative age of our world as being greater that 5,773 years old.
What I was proposing with fossils, is that they could represent vestigial reflection of spiritual realities that took place prior to the physical manifestation of the world. Alpha Centauri would not be vestigial because they reflect a spiritual existence that is still functioning. Hence AC are still shining stars while fossils are dead.I’m not saying this is an answer, just something I thought up after I learned that piece to explain the apparent age of the Earth in lieu of chazal.
The point of my deer analogy was that deer are reflections of some spiritual deer-mazal. Yet after the deer dies, the skeleton doesn’t cease to exist, it persists reflecting a vestigial spiritual existence. Similarly, fossils could reflect vestiges of whatever it was they represented. The rule (tentatively) being that Hashem doesn’t completely eradicate anything once its function has ended.
I mentioned the Seder Olam only because he actually goes through the generations so its harder to mess around with the time frame (talking about relative vs objective time). And this sefer is quoted in the gemarah as well.
I don’t think I am really speaking about a Big Bounce (which would probably take 6,00 years to contract as well, once the arrow of time reverses). I think in general Judaism views time as being more cyclic than oscillatory. The idea would be more similar to a sort of spiritual Brane consmology. You have a bulk (which we can call the “area” of the tzimtzum) where conventional time and space don’t exist. And Hashem creates seven consecutive branes within the bulk, each brane lasting for 7,000 years. In such a case you wouldn’t say that the universe is actually billions of years old, because the age of the universe can only begin from the start of the singularity of the individual brane. I’m not familiar with the concept of olam kadmon.
I don’t think he meant he was an agnostic theist as it sounds like you are suggesting, but I never read a biography about the guy, I just read specific points that I need on Wikipedia with the sources. But like you said, some goy’s beliefs definitely have no bearing here.