Recently Dr. William Dembski wrote “Calling Dennett’s Bluff”
http://www.uncommondescent.com/index.php/archives/282
Jonathan Witt wrote “Daniel Dennett’s Sham Science“, August 29, 2005
http://www.idthefuture.com/index.php?p=700
Others as well wrote related things, like:
http://telicthoughts.com/?p=243
But here, I want to call your attention to another very common bluff that we see at our posting boards, “the Darwin’s Bluff“.
Being at the root of it all Charles Darwin himself, who wrote:
“Finally then, the facts briefly given in this chapter do not seem to opposed to, but even rather to support the view, that there is no fundamental distinction between species and varieties” [Ch. 8, Darwin’s 1st ed. only of his book ‘Origin of Species‘]
Is that true?
Is true that “there is no fundamental distinction between species and varieties” as Darwin wrote?
Darwin also wrote:
“From these remarks it will be seen that I look at the term species, as one arbitrarily given for the sake of convenience to a set of individuals closely resembling each other, and that it does not essentially differ from the term variety, which is given to less distinct and more fluctuating forms. The term variety, again, in comparison with mere individual differences, is also applied arbitraily, and for mere convenience sake.” [Ch. 2, all editions of his book ‘Origin of Species‘]
Is it true that the term “species… does not essentially differ from the term variety” as Darwin wrote?
A neo-Darwinian will tell: “Oh well, that was in the XIX Century, that was Darwin only, but now his theory has ‘evolved’ with full loads of new ‘evidence’…”
But I want to ask you, my dear reader: Is that really true? Continue reading »