Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>]

Jim, Jim, Jim. Let's try this again, shall we.

What you are doing is creating a hypothesis, and then assuming that it is 
necessarily the norm that has to be disproved, and until that happens, your 
hypothesis must be right. What you are failing to see is that the hypothesis 
you've created is based on some logical fallacies and extremely tendentious 
assumptions. The burden of proof lies not with others to prove you wrong, but 
rather for you to tighten up your case with proper logic and method. I still 
haven't seen this from you. Instead, you just keep trotting out the same old 
improbable assumptions. And then, when people argue against you, you demand 
that their evidence has to take a particular (odd) shape for you to be 
convinced by it. This is just simply not realistic. It smacks of 'head in the 
sand' syndrome, and actually comes across as childish and silly, rather than 
mature or learned. You're not doing yourself any favours here, Jim.

It seems to me that no one will convince you out of your ideas because you're 
demanding that they share your particular assumptions. Yet, practically 
everyone disagrees with your assumptions, and so you will never be convinced 
of anyone else's arguments, because there's no point of contact at all. As 
such, you're on a lonely deserted island where Hebron = Aijalon Valley and 
south is north. No one else lives in that world.

Has it ever occurred to you that if everyone is arguing against you, then 
maybe, just maybe, it might be worth reconsidering your assumptions and 
methods? Some self-evaluation and epistemic humility go a long way. You might 
be pleasantly surprised at the results.

Let me urge you one more time: Get a blog, please! B-Hebrew is not your 
personal publishing outlet. You can get one of those for free at a blog site.


Regards,

GEORGE ATHAS
Co-Moderator, B-Hebrew
(Sydney, Australia)