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What ever happened to the rest of Darwinism? If the new version doesn't mention the rest, one might wonder if it's been abandoned (provided one were so gullible). One might also conclude that the rest is too weak, and the evopusher lacks confidence. But in any case, the trimmed down, 'streamlined', repackaged version differs from the old.
Interesting that I note the actual theory as proposed by Darwin - descent with modification - and show how it is the same as what is now used - the change in hereditary traits in populations from generation to generation ...

... and all you can do is wave your hands and talk about a mysterious "rest" -- without even hinting at what this mythical "rest" is composed of. You imply something is missing but don't say what it is.
There's plenty more to Darwinism, and everyone knows this. To carry on so is neither cute nor funny at this point. Darwin wrote more than one or two silly sentences. He wrote silly books full of nonsense, in which he explained all the things one needs to imagine if one is to buy his story.

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The fact is that you can't produce any such "rest" of the theory proposed by Darwin, and that what you are engaged in is self delusion, likely due to cognitive dissonance.
Can't I? Why not? You linked to a copy of one of his books yourself. So what makes you think anyone's ignorant enough to take your word that Darwinism consists of nothing more than your diluted version?

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The fact is that the theory of evolution today is little different from the theory of evolution as originally proposed by Darwin, other than to include more information on the actual mechanisms by which descent with modification occurs.
"Little different"? A relative term, I suppose. And a red herring. What you've presented in this thread and in the one you started for the purpose of offering version after version is neither Darwinism nor Neodarwinism. It's your own attempt to follow the example of the priests at talkdeceptions like Dr. Theobald. It's just a con game to present hollow jibberish and confuse the unsuspecting.

Now if you can defend any form of Darwinism, why do you need to disguise it?

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Darwin spent a lot of time reviewing the evidence of the natural history of life on earth, fossil and geological, and from the fossil evidence to what we have learned from animal husbandry and the breeding of animals by selecting for desirable (to humans) traits from the ones that occur naturally.
Actually, he spent a great deal more time attempting to rewrite history. Had he studied it, he might have easily learned how mistaken his atheist pals were.

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Darwin also spent some time theorizing on some of the possible mechanisms by which descent with modification occurred, some of which was (gasp) wrong (the heredity of acquired traits) and some of which has proven fairly accurate, predicting in effect the field of genetics.
Oh? Have you evidence of any such prediction? Genetics is quite contrary to what Darwin proposed. Genetics says you get what you inherit - that's it. You may inherit things from your great grandfather, or even further back, but whatever you have is what one of your ancestors had.

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Darwin also spent some time discussing existing (at the time) problems with the theory due to the limited (at the time) evidence from the natural history of life on earth.

But if you can show that he had some other even more major theory than the descent with modification theory, then please, by all means, present it -- along with the chapter for reference.
Now you equivocate again. You use "descent with modification" as a substitute title for Darwinian evolution, knowing full well it's not a substitute for the content of the mythology. You think that's clever? Well in that case, explain his "theory of the preservation of favored races". That'll make 3 "theories" if you want to count things that way.
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For instance this quote is from the section " CHAPTER XV RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSION":
How about for instance that's chapter 15. That means there were 14 chapters leading up to it. And that's not his only book on evolutionism either.

You were so thrilled to find the select phrase you sought, you seemed to have overlooked something rather important. Perhaps I can help with a little bold text
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That many and serious objections may be advanced against the theory of descent with modification through variation and natural selection, I do not deny. I have endeavoured to give to them their full force. Nothing at first can appear more difficult to believe than that the more complex organs and instincts have been perfected, not by means superior to, though analogous with, human reason, but by the accumulation of innumerable slight variations, each good for the individual possessor. Nevertheless, this difficulty, though appearing to our imagination insuperably great, cannot be considered real if we admit the following propositions, namely, that all parts of the organisation and instincts offer, at least, individual differences- that there is a struggle for existence leading to the preservation of profitable deviations of structure or instinct- and, lastly, that gradations in the state of perfection of each organ may have existed, each good of its kind. The truth of these propositions cannot, I think, be disputed.
It is absolutely essential, according to Darwin, that life undergo perpetual struggle. He said so time after time, and complained in letters that people weren't getting the point, in spite of his efforts to make this clear.

Pay close attention. He says "this difficulty, though appearing to our imagination insuperably great, cannot be considered real if we admit the following propositions"... Without constant struggle (and by this he means death of all but the "most fit") Darwin himself contends evolution won't happen.

For all your adoration, you continually overlook what he actually said. He also claimed "parent groups" would be driven to extinction by more "highly evolved" replacements, as I pointed out not so long ago. But no evolutionist cares. You're too busy assuming evolution has happened to look at it even half as critically as Darwin did. ...And you dare to speak of cognitive dissonance? Ha!

Now do any of your watered-down versions mention this struggle? Please direct me to the post in which you even acknowledge this issue indirectly. It does not exist, as my memory informs me.

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Conclusion: THE theory that Darwin proposed was descent with modification. The main mechanisms for the theory are variation - the preponderance of variation in all forms of life - and natural selection - the differential ability of organisms to survive and breed in different ecologies.
Yes, it has been called that. It has been called other things too, as I mentioned. But titles aren't contents. If you want to discuss Darwin's idea, that's fine. If you want to define it, you need to define all of it - not just name it. Same for the modern versions.

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In particular if you can provide a reference where Darwin says that rocks must necessarily turn into people, do by all means please provide this valuable reference for what Russ claims. Good hunting.
That's a later idea & you know it. But it's what evolutionists teach, so it's fair game. You think you get to choose what we can pay attention to, and what we must miss. This is not how discussions proceed.

We recognize there are different sects among evolutionists. It would have been fair to claim you don't buy the "rocks-to-man" scenario. But to claim it does not exist is false. It exists in more than one form. There's even a group claiming crystals were the basis for bringing about life. Crystals are rocks, are they not?

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I'm not aware of any evidence that says any such thing.
The fact that you - personally - are not aware of such evidence has no bearing on whether it exists or not. All it can show is that you are either ignorant of the evidence, have not really looked for it, or are busy pretending to yourself that it doesn't exist for any number of reasons ... one of which involves cognitive dissonance.
I'll say it again, since you choose to respond selectively.

I'm not aware of any evidence that says any such thing. If such evidence existed, it should have been presented. All you give is misinterpretations of evidence; the evidence itself can only reflect reality. When properly interpreted, evidence supports the history we read in the bible.

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What we actually have, even if one imagines unlimited timespans, is a record of lifeforms without precursors and without any of them changing into a new kind of lifeform. Yet we have people imagining such changes took place in spite of a vast amount of evidence.
This is an example of just such ignorance, as it is rather obviously false to anyone that looks for the evidence. No two individuals are the same, no two fossils are the same, and layer by layer there is evidence of change in forms.
But the "change" we see is not consistent with your claims. This has been your problem for weeks now. Do we need to cut & paste whole pages from other threads?

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Neither foraminifera fossils, the Horse fossils, nor the pelycodus fossils show "stasis" so your assertions is shown to be false.
Oh? So evidence consists of evolutionists' conclusions now? That's not how the word is properly used in English. Indeed, it's a pretty fundamental part of reasoning, no matter what language one speaks. Assumptions, evidence, and conclusions are things one needs to keep in their respective categories.

If this were a fresh discussion, I would take it as a sign of weakness that you present conclusions as evidence. But this discussion's more toward the stale end of the spectrum, so it's looking more like frustration. Does it not trouble you in the least that none of the evolutionists here are able to present actual evidence & make an honest argument based thereupon?

Does it not trouble you further that so many of your own "experts" acknowledge the lack of evidence and other critical weaknesses in the doctrines you seek to spread?

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So when creationists use the term 'evolution', they must always be equivocating.
Yes, when ever they conflate more than one scientific use of the term with another that is totally unrelated.
There is no scientific use of the term. That's like saying there's a scientific use of the term leprechaun!

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Only evolutionists are allowed to define and use the term.
Actually you are correct: only scientists get to define the terms they use and the conditions for using those terms within the science. This is science develops the terminology specific to the science.
So what term shall we non-believers use when discussing your god?

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Certainly astronomers do not get to define how the term "evolution" (or "birth") is used in biology.
Huh? Since when is 'evolution' used in biology as anything other than a term to indicate submission to / membership in the cult? It has no bearing on any of the actual science involved.

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Most certainly people who don't have a clue about science don't get to redefine the scientific terminology -- they get to learn it and learn to apply it properly or they only demonstrate their ignorance of the scientific terminology and the proper scientific usage of the terminology.
You stray from the point. If you don't permit creationists to employ the name of your god, you need to provide a term for us to use when we discuss your god. Or we shall have no practical discussion at all.

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On the contrary, creationists have been requesting evidence for quite some time in this forum. Perhaps you're confused. We'd like to see evidence - not more fairy tales.
If you were really interested in seeing the evidence you would have found it, you wouldn't need me to list just some of the pervasive evidence of evolution that easily show your assertions to be false.
Oh, we're supposed to find it ourselves. You're just here to distract us, eh?

Now I know it took about 3 - 5 years for the X Club to get their political monopoly in gear; but that's what, 1865 at the latest? That's quite a while evolutionists have had abundant financial backing & other resources with which to search for evidence. They too, expected it to be easily discovered; but so far nobody's found anything. Small wonder you'd send me off on a wild goose chase.

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What I see here is a pervasive pattern of ignoring evidence that is presented -- such as about the real changes that have occurred in coelacanths -- in order to avoid confronting the evidence of objective reality: engaging in cognitive dissonance, not debate.
Now that's just a plain misrepresentation. I did not ignore the different sizes of coelacanths. You ignored the fact that they're fish! You said it was like comparing a 6' man to an 18' man. I even emailed the address you suggested, to see what was behind Glen Morton's other claim. You could have done the emailing yourself, and I don't doubt you would have if you thought it was worth wasting time; but you knew it wasn't.

Now I'm thinking I won't go looking for your evidence. If it were plentiful and easily found, somebody somewhere would be able to find it. It's particularly unreasonable to expect me to find this evidence while you claim I don't know what evolution is. From the looks of your definitions, you'd have a good many people unsure of what it is. I'm just supposed to trust you, eh? How could I begin to trust anyone who's afraid to be honest about the religion they're pushing?

But before your next lecture, you might want to make up your own mind as to what you think evolution is all about. On a sibling thread, you say
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The real question is not whether you agree with the theory or not, but whether you can invalidate it: can you demonstrate an instance where it is not possible to explain the diversity of life by the accumulation of changes in hereditary traits in populations from generation to generation?
But this is bogus. Who would claim it impossible for you to imagine an explanation for anything? That's no test of the premise. We all know you can look at anything and claim it evolved - big deal!

When I say there's a lot more to Darwinism & evolutionism than your summary, you say "The fact is that you can't produce any such "rest" of the theory proposed by Darwin". But it looks like your opinion varies considerably.
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(responding to "Mechanisms should not be classified within evolution.")Again: why?

Different mechanisms and processes exist and cause different results. They are part of the reality of evolution. What purpose is served by ignoring them?
Care to answer your own question? What purpose do you think is served?

And you give no indication that you'll ever find a formulation that suits you. Here's yet another RAZD evolution "theory".

Anyone care for more?
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Whether Ray is mistaken or not is irrelevant in the end: it doesn't mean we need to stop talking about what the real definition of the theory of evolution involves.

Enjoy.
There's no indication that you ever intend to stop talking about your "real definition", or your quest to find it.

Oh! Did I say "it"?
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"The theory of Evolution" is not so much a single theory as it is a synthesis of current theories involving evolution (see Thread The Definition for the Theory of Evolution for discussion), where evolution is the change in hereditary traits in species over time. Theories of speciation involving the splitting of breeding populations of a species into two or more daughter populations leads to the theory of common descent, whereby all known evidence of life can be arranged in a tree of descent over time from common ancestors that make the various branches in this tree (or bush).
Will you ever find your answer? It's like Goldielocks: one's too short, one's too long, one's too... whatever
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That is one of the problems with evolution -- the word is used to mean different things. What evolution is does need to be part of the theory for how evolution occurs, and how it occurs needs more than just what it is.

It's not so much that speciation needs to be included, but that the theory can explain speciation - especially where it involves separation of parent populations into different daughter populations.

In this one, you actually seem to appreciate your Goldilockshood
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This is similar to the "Standard Model" in physics, which is not a single theory so much as a compendium of all current working theories. In this vein (and in keeping with some similar comments by Modulus in Message 11, Message 12 and Message 33) I propose the following:

The modern theory of biological evolution is a synthesis of several validated theories on how species change over time, how change is enabled by the available variations (diversity) within populations due to the accumulation of different mutations in hereditary traits, and how changes made within each generation are selected by the differential response of organisms to passing on their hereditary traits under prevailing ecological pressures and their opportunities to disperse into other ecological habitats.

Trying for a balance between specific and general ... without getting cumbersome?

Enjoy.
By now I'm hoping you can understand a few things. If you can't figure out what the core beliefs of your religion consist of, that's your problem - not ours. Until you do figure this out, don't come telling me a bunch of nonsense like you've got one little phrase that sums it up sufficiently & try to play like anyone who doesn't fall down & worship your prose is ignorant or suffering from some disorder.

So long as you fail to acknowledge what you're trying to promote, you'll never achieve your goal. Evolutionism is a system of replacing valid history with imagined events. Its purpose it to account for origins in a manner which excludes God. As a replacement for recorded history, evolutionism has a considerable burden of proof; and any attempt to dodge this issue or obfuscate will prove unsatisfactory to you, yourself. If you want to shed this obsession, you need to try a different approach.


Dark Matter + Dark Energy = Dark Truth

"We find that such evidence demonstrates that the ID argument is dependent upon setting a scientifically unreasonable burden of proof for the theory of evolution." - Judge Jones Kitzmiller case
http://www.talkreason.org/articles/Falsify.cfm

"To Compel A Man To Furnish Funds For The Propagation Of Ideas He Disbelieves And Abhors Is Sinful And Tyrannical." - Thomas Jefferson

"And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath?" - Thomas Jefferson