Book of Mormon geography

[_Tobin]

Is it possible that you're mistaken?

And where is your work or ANY counter examples? I do not have hard statistics on how much is spent on Egyptology every year or how many graduate in the field vs Mesoamerican studies, but that does not mean my assertion is wrong. I seriously doubt you could ever build a case that Mesoamerican studies has had nearly the resources or academic attention thrown at it that Egyptology has over the years. So, I'll stand behind my assertion and state again that it isn't outlandish to state that Mesoamerican studies is not nearly as developed as Egyptology until you can even provide one bit of compelling proof otherwise. The ball is in your court (and I suspect you know you are a full of it too).

[_Chap]

Is it possible that you're mistaken?

And where is your work or ANY counter examples? I do not have hard statistics on how much is spent on Egyptology every year or how many graduate in the field vs Mesoamerican studies, but that does not mean my assertion is wrong. I seriously doubt you could ever build a case that Mesoamerican studies has had nearly the resources or academic attention thrown at it that Egyptology has over the years. So, I'll stand behind my assertion and state again that it isn't outlandish to state that Mesoamerican studies is not nearly as developed as Egyptology until you can even provide one bit of compelling proof otherwise. The ball is in your court (and I suspect you know you are a full of it too).

And just before that, Morley pointed out:

Seventeen universities in the USA offer some kind of undergraduate or graduate opportunity to study Egyptology. More than fifty US institutions offer PhDs in the field of Mesoamerican Studies.

Let me restate that. Egyptology = 17. Mesoamerica = 50.

[_Tobin]

Seventeen universities in the USA offer some kind of undergraduate or graduate opportunity to study Egyptology. More than fifty US institutions offer PhDs in the field of Mesoamerican Studies.

Let me restate that. Egyptology = 17. Mesoamerica = 50.

He's counting departments of Anthropology (which also offer degrees in Egyptology too) and Art History. He's completely full of it.

[_Chap]

Seventeen universities in the USA offer some kind of undergraduate or graduate opportunity to study Egyptology. More than fifty US institutions offer PhDs in the field of Mesoamerican Studies.

Let me restate that. Egyptology = 17. Mesoamerica = 50.

He's counting departments of Anthropology and Art History. <snip silly abuse>

So long as he counts departments of Anthropology and Art History that offer a PhD in Egyptology as well as departments of Anthropology and Art History that offer a PhD in Mesoamerican studies, the comparison is quite fair.

And further, his claim compares PhDs in Mesoamerica with the broader category of "some kind of undergraduate or graduate opportunity to study Egyptology", which seems likely to magnify Egyptology at the expense of Mesoamerica.

[Guest]

So long as he counts departments of Anthropology and Art History that offer a PhD in Egyptology as well as departments of Anthropology and Art History that offer a PhD in Mesoamerican studies, the comparison is quite fair.

And further, his claim compares PhDs in Mesoamerica with the broader category of "some kind of undergraduate or graduate opportunity to study Egyptology", which seems likely to magnify Egyptology at the expense of Mesoamerica.

Not really. Major schools have actual departments dedicated to Egyptology. There isn't one department of Mesoamerican studies in the United States (the only one that exists is in Mexico). He is trying to compare apples and oranges and claiming they are the same thing which they aren't. The simple fact is that even though these smaller schools may offer a degree in a related department, it only indicates there aren't enough people interested in the field to merit a department. And I suspect that if I could find some statistics on number of advanced degrees held, the number of Egyptology degrees would swamp those in Mesoamerican studies.

[_Darth J]

If we know essentially nothing about ancient Mesoamerica, what is the basis for assuming that the Book of Mormon narrative happened there?

Did Tobin ever explain that, but I missed it?

[_Chap]

If we know essentially nothing about ancient Mesoamerica, what is the basis for assuming that the Book of Mormon narrative happened there?

Did Tobin ever explain that, but I missed it?

We know enough to know that the Book of Mormon narrative could have happened in Mesoamerica.

We don't know enough to know that the Book of Mormon narrative could not have happened in Mesoamerica.

It's really so finely calibrated as to be almost a proof of intelligent design.

[_Darth J]

If we know essentially nothing about ancient Mesoamerica, what is the basis for assuming that the Book of Mormon narrative happened there?

Did Tobin ever explain that, but I missed it?

We know enough to know that the Book of Mormon narrative could have happened in Mesoamerica.

We don't know enough to know that the Book of Mormon narrative could not have happened in Mesoamerica.

It's really so finely calibrated as to be almost a proof of intelligent design.

It's almost as if Tobin is criticizing early Mormons (including Joseph Smith) for jumping to conclusions based on their uninformed assumptions about ruins in Mesoamerica, while at the same time he is jumping to conclusions based on his uninformed assumptions about ruins in Mesoamerica.

I'm sure that can't be the case, though, so there must be some more reasonable explanation.

[_Quasimodo]

It's almost as if Tobin is criticizing early Mormons (including Joseph Smith) for jumping to conclusions based on their uninformed assumptions about ruins in Mesoamerica, while at the same time he is jumping to conclusions based on his uninformed assumptions about ruins in Mesoamerica.

I'm sure that can't be the case, though, so there must be some more reasonable explanation.

I've been trying to get a reasonable explanation from Tobin for some time. I guess it's my fault for not understanding it.

[_Chap]

It's almost as if Tobin is criticizing early Mormons (including Joseph Smith) for jumping to conclusions based on their uninformed assumptions about ruins in Mesoamerica, while at the same time he is jumping to conclusions based on his uninformed assumptions about ruins in Mesoamerica.

I'm sure that can't be the case, though, so there must be some more reasonable explanation.

I've been trying to get a reasonable explanation from Tobin for some time. I guess it's my fault for not understanding it.

But God is OK with Tobin's point of view. If he wasn't he'd certainly have told him.

So who are you to put in your two cents' worth?