$600 Book of Mormon prize awarded

[Uncle Dale]

Some time ago I announced the availability of a cash prize

for any statistician who would take the trouble to work up

some pca charts on Book of Mormon authorship attribution

distribution on four-quad graphics.

The prize has been won and so I'm withdrawing the offer today.

A couple of folks were working on the project, but were tardy

in getting any results together.

I'll post the generally boring data that accompanies the

first chart (pc1/pc2) and will place it on a web-site later.

This tabulation is mostly meant for comparison with

Bruce Schaalje's previously posted pre-pub chart. If anybody

sees any errors, please let me know. I'll re-post my adaptation

of Bruce's chart (our own is very similar) along with the data.

Uncle Dale

PC1 PC2 TextID

-0.965839279 -0.975145731 Cowdr01 ?

-0.727036589 -0.671581360 Cowdr02 ?

-1.464282967 -0.588628995 Cowdr03 ?

-1.391671222 -0.188848704 Cowdr04 ?

-1.279908466 +0.186581586 Cowdr05 ?

-1.371302181 -0.255150691 Cowdr06 ?

-1.747564989 -0.181612395 Cowdr07 ?

-1.805028084 +0.133555504 Cowdr08 ?

-0.901305262 -0.077428728 Cowdr09 ?

-1.791818738 -0.466103068 Cowdr10 ?

-0.970545653 -1.261980109 Cowdr11 ?

-1.151247942 -0.830160261 Cowdr12 ?

-2.108172996 -0.111331383 Cowdr13 ?

-1.629425203 +0.450118494 Cowdr14 ?

-1.676066174 +0.177264174 Cowdr15 ?

-1.683460915 +0.055470596 Cowdr16 ?

-1.758069626 -0.078029341 Cowdr17 ?

-1.572442768 -0.258399375 Cowdr18 ?

-1.764387366 +0.054849850 Cowdr19 ?

-0.945392700 -0.571735840 Pratt01 ?

-0.629126666 -1.219340719 Pratt02 ?

-0.999294542 -0.356773583 Pratt03 ?

-1.355373996 -1.381749789 Pratt04 ?

-0.973784526 -0.537548294 Pratt05 ?

-0.925522976 -1.409466922 Pratt06 ?

-1.119047103 -1.319027582 Pratt07 ?

-0.912159694 -0.955697658 Pratt08 ?

-0.827722503 -1.664608102 Pratt09 ?

-0.819605904 -1.644022648 Pratt10 ?

-0.598161544 -1.239864854 Pratt11 ?

-0.994222561 -1.934750574 Pratt12 ?

-0.346022230 -1.400073719 Pratt13 ?

-1.157322863 -1.614552019 Pratt14 ?

-0.829996916 -0.893619418 Pratt15 ?

-0.462359643 -1.592602227 Pratt16 ?

-0.870166894 -1.585689756 Pratt17 ?

-0.758750634 -1.388743706 Pratt18 ?

-0.737870846 -1.503231733 Pratt19 ?

-1.204332174 -1.168178702 Pratt20 ?

-0.868922336 -1.054268254 Pratt21 ?

-0.711914092 -1.192149189 Pratt22 ?

-0.753550121 -1.798114422 Pratt23 ?

-0.543782437 -1.898585832 Pratt24 ?

-0.873054132 -1.400532172 Pratt25 ?

-1.001325229 -1.940889946 Pratt26 ?

-0.491312004 -1.509302714 Pratt27 ?

-0.738267470 -1.387903729 Pratt28 ?

-1.100411965 -0.808520880 Pratt29 ?

-0.908703887 -1.841859159 Pratt30 ?

-0.854505129 -1.603112714 Pratt31 ?

-0.895525102 -1.447527751 Pratt32 ?

-1.146377723 -1.192166633 Pratt33 ?

-1.472623447 -1.669380947 Pratt34 ?

-0.774262074 -1.717804827 Pratt35 ?

-0.888927839 -1.267566463 Pratt36 ?

-0.626781808 -1.745853578 Pratt37 ?

-0.574192249 -1.537222833 Pratt38 ?

-0.891356184 -0.872257560 Pratt39 ?

-1.052525737 -1.197226611 Pratt40 ?

-0.914617071 -1.472593258 Pratt41 ?

-0.879918527 -1.744548460 Pratt42 ?

-1.016314479 -0.685202791 Pratt43 ?

-0.915102328 -1.976145234 Pratt44 ?

-0.837147074 -1.791035801 Pratt45 ?

-0.939730993 -1.842642228 Pratt46 ?

-1.068117941 -1.157723460 Pratt47 ?

-1.099592078 -0.829309415 Pratt48 ?

-1.121409661 -1.414520135 Pratt49 ?

-0.882266918 -1.205232248 Pratt50 ?

-0.963289448 -1.589031408 Pratt51 ?

-1.152031512 -1.702423728 Pratt52 ?

-1.204458298 -0.289599175 Pratt53 ?

-0.913493655 -0.404763064 Rigdn01 ?

-0.607592639 -0.642220513 Rigdn02 ?

-1.150028864 -0.224315984 Rigdn03 ?

-0.834403283 -0.371240604 Rigdn04 ?

-0.837238370 -0.453544791 Rigdn05 ?

-0.675819661 -0.435790254 Rigdn06 ?

-0.623752278 -0.235055930 Rigdn07 ?

-0.083847715 -0.338933048 Rigdn08 ?

-0.778472052 +0.099010026 Rigdn09 ?

-0.514917338 -0.183675324 Rigdn10 ?

-0.665926179 -0.225752454 Rigdn11 ?

-1.081899207 -0.209569025 Rigdn12 ?

-0.803860232 +0.336361896 Rigdn13 ?

-0.434132892 -0.399189706 Rigdn14 ?

-0.844982400 +0.201414229 Rigdn15 ?

-0.725901215 +0.356541890 Rigdn16 ?

-0.590822972 -0.073898284 Rigdn17 ?

-0.871896172 +0.107215358 Rigdn18 ?

-0.648957301 -0.115678147 Rigdn19 ?

-0.817620360 -0.086226627 Rigdn20 ?

-1.410114906 -1.527133693 Rigdn21 ?

-0.814015917 -0.120073455 Rigdn22 ?

-0.804937050 -0.020224539 Rigdn23 ?

-1.174021023 -1.162071128 Spald01 Oberlin01

-0.846657432 -1.601956925 Spald02 Oberlin02

-0.846657432 -1.601956925 Spald03 Oberlin03

-1.020074771 -1.601396117 Spald04 Oberlin04

-0.879247763 -1.437811452 Spald05 Oberlin05

-0.815614088 -1.369484200 Spald06 Oberlin06

-0.332556208 -1.557502749 Spald07 Oberlin07

-0.774169851 -1.028399068 Spald08 Oberlin08

-0.793384023 -0.409697036 Spald09 Oberlin09

-0.400225091 -1.127971823 Spald10 Oberlin10

-0.231905158 -0.832580749 Spald11 Oberlin11

-0.630320097 -1.318607809 Spald12 Oberlin12

-0.858183172 -1.345272599 Spald13 Oberlin13a

-0.800664916 -1.095121054 Spald14 Oberlin13b

-0.662162851 -0.976630509 Spald15 Oberlin14a

-0.323825171 -1.378697583 Spald16 Oberlin14b

-0.966461633 -0.377806180 Spald17 OberLetter

+0.861316940 +0.334634098 Unkn001 1Nephi01

+1.037862453 +0.218173739 Unkn002 1Nephi02

+0.819641754 +0.252425697 Unkn003 1Nephi03

+0.637484653 +0.043188977 Unkn004 1Nephi04

+0.838007374 -0.275856920 Unkn005 1Nephi05

-1.051365139 +2.410771381 Unkn006 1Nephi06

+0.912338836 +0.558063137 Unkn007 1Nephi07

+1.042367831 -0.156367187 Unkn008 1Nephi08

-0.292580605 +1.319814835 Unkn009 1Nephi09

+0.360969694 +0.696006374 Unkn010 1Nephi10

+0.644603495 +0.270943974 Unkn011 1Nephi11

+0.974361525 +0.187828708 Unkn012 1Nephi12

+0.758682782 +0.487090099 Unkn013 1Nephi13

+0.510339803 +0.546704388 Unkn014 1Nephi14

+0.140867665 +0.677603590 Unkn015 1Nephi15

+1.401368043 -0.342246067 Unkn016 1Nephi16

+0.643789376 +0.775992700 Unkn017 1Nephi17

+1.443603363 -0.484813820 Unkn018 1Nephi18

+0.095443128 +0.881648835 Unkn019 1Nephi19

-0.600690135 +1.103436822 Unkn020 1Nephi20

-0.811200736 +0.969533865 Unkn021 1Nephi21

+0.047100966 +1.516035558 Unkn022 1Nephi22

-0.195772266 +0.798055724 Unkn023 2Nephi01

-0.557616399 +0.887813921 Unkn024 2Nephi02

-0.178270629 +0.982192192 Unkn025 2Nephi03

-0.447244687 +1.087515295 Unkn026 2Nephi04

+1.016303160 +0.511369752 Unkn027 2Nephi05

-0.174492872 +1.460630778 Unkn028 2Nephi06

-1.127275702 +0.979187189 Unkn029 2Nephi07

-0.537906164 +0.528359388 Unkn030 2Nephi08

-0.595071336 +1.019814828 Unkn031 2Nephi09

-0.310901749 +1.289826543 Unkn032 2Nephi10

-0.719897718 +2.168720718 Unkn033 2Nephi11

+0.528693252 +0.825045668 Unkn034 2Nephi12

-0.028599667 +0.061518030 Unkn035 2Nephi13

-1.122164690 -0.345776693 Unkn036 2Nephi14

-0.087895867 +0.664806791 Unkn037 2Nephi15

-0.785064254 -0.323377967 Unkn038 2Nephi16

-0.164521058 +0.632940575 Unkn039 2Nephi17

+0.017093311 +0.723992134 Unkn040 2Nephi18

-0.442974761 +0.333774994 Unkn041 2Nephi19

-0.531764492 +0.473224684 Unkn042 2Nephi20

-0.061337775 -0.233354498 Unkn043 2Nephi21

-1.106488624 +1.378839090 Unkn044 2Nephi22

-0.667403554 +0.175975700 Unkn045 2Nephi23

-0.374451418 +0.262660258 Unkn046 2Nephi24

-0.255595068 +1.352588104 Unkn047 2Nephi25

+0.068159862 +1.718250879 Unkn048 2Nephi26

-0.503693301 +1.433726858 Unkn049 2Nephi27

-0.356888241 +1.307500456 Unkn050 2Nephi28

-0.381332908 +1.681629732 Unkn051 2Nephi29

-0.209587191 +0.884581204 Unkn052 2Nephi30

-0.685436230 +0.795620786 Unkn053 2Nephi31

-0.840530127 +1.900419330 Unkn054 2Nephi32

-0.649218891 +1.613335485 Unkn055 2Nephi33

+0.559027105 -0.000844757 Unkn056 Jacob01

-0.300862051 +1.057397059 Unkn057 Jacob02

-0.204517958 +1.237121156 Unkn058 Jacob03

-0.310966962 +0.730338267 Unkn059 Jacob04

+0.372270106 +0.578610126 Unkn060 Jacob05

-0.562020875 +1.053685195 Unkn061 Jacob06

+0.52790338 +0.767889296 Unkn062 Jacob07

+0.273647200 +0.212925222 Unkn063 Enos01

+0.401209369 +0.049854010 Unkn064 Jarom01

+0.797794948 -0.439945351 Unkn065 Omni01

+0.976383913 +0.654591259 Unkn066 Words01

+0.630431636 +0.805812947 Unkn067 Mosiah01

-0.351414814 +1.295501218 Unkn068 Mosiah02

-0.381952211 +0.811653852 Unkn069 Mosiah03

-0.568034230 +1.264137667 Unkn070 Mosiah04

-0.361324850 +1.716591613 Unkn071 Mosiah05

+1.645119843 -0.469985736 Unkn072 Mosiah06

+0.767606937 +0.327661044 Unkn073 Mosiah07

+0.303343014 +0.747893776 Unkn074 Mosiah08

+1.501617375 -0.883118297 Unkn075 Mosiah09

+1.805018976 +0.023852168 Unkn076 Mosiah10

+1.480622707 -0.173195714 Unkn077 Mosiah11

+0.344571315 +1.229803420 Unkn078 Mosiah12

-0.337221249 +1.624014567 Unkn079 Mosiah13

-0.530410371 -0.582028067 Unkn080 Mosiah14

-0.026928654 +1.106652806 Unkn081 Mosiah15

+0.084315490 +0.520272263 Unkn082 Mosiah16

+0.597781506 +1.283037968 Unkn083 Mosiah17

+0.914787524 -0.264734639 Unkn084 Mosiah18

+2.093815111 -0.305668716 Unkn085 Mosiah19

+1.362868622 +0.618790793 Unkn086 Mosiah20

+1.685372226 -0.630110361 Unkn087 Mosiah21

+1.480358240 -0.379017576 Unkn088 Mosiah22

+1.507975097 -0.277066171 Unkn089 Mosiah23

+1.638717937 -0.113866601 Unkn090 Mosiah24

+1.823018891 -0.779576841 Unkn091 Mosiah25

+0.644932827 +0.859708864 Unkn092 Mosiah26

+0.714181124 -0.050370209 Unkn093 Mosiah27

+1.464757367 +0.219126964 Unkn094 Mosiah28

+0.618610594 +0.848808920 Unkn095 Mosiah29

+1.039766887 -0.610309053 Unkn096 Alma01

+1.312671888 -0.910676156 Unkn097 Alma02

+1.191059444 -0.294490669 Unkn098 Alma03

+1.426966235 -0.905539290 Unkn099 Alma04

-0.829188769 +1.044392705 Unkn100 Alma05

+1.228751369 -1.354752703 Unkn101 Alma06

-0.596321052 +1.489215617 Unkn102 Alma07

+1.302699809 -0.335948289 Unkn103 Alma08

-0.130831414 +0.800627135 Unkn104 Alma09

+0.258568161 +0.648266139 Unkn105 Alma10

-0.294250656 +0.247634699 Unkn106 Alma11

-0.376969537 +0.412089845 Unkn107 Alma12

+0.267679031 -0.144235783 Unkn108 Alma13

+1.626530022 +0.090810083 Unkn109 Alma14

+1.102841891 -0.466943417 Unkn110 Alma15

+1.707775415 -0.696425033 Unkn111 Alma16

+1.163727223 -0.502950159 Unkn112 Alma17

+0.556107403 +0.770821281 Unkn113 Alma18

+1.107949645 -0.128182627 Unkn114 Alma19

+0.434106286 +0.664802080 Unkn115 Alma20

+1.440837049 -0.280940952 Unkn116 Alma21

+0.660539912 -0.077852286 Unkn117 Alma22

+1.494670608 -0.346384958 Unkn118 Alma23

+0.802848423 -0.152698212 Unkn119 Alma24

+1.630525412 -0.349927402 Unkn120 Alma25

-0.260672534 +0.464511108 Unkn121 Alma26

+1.657325342 -0.233265981 Unkn122 Alma27

+0.910186441 -0.860234892 Unkn123 Alma28

-0.549492926 +1.001843260 Unkn124 Alma29

+0.259888957 +0.929867842 Unkn125 Alma30

+0.712512288 +0.289945546 Unkn126 Alma31

-0.534122756 +1.427276799 Unkn127 Alma32

-0.343149097 +1.319560182 Unkn128 Alma33

-0.674126791 +1.451582854 Unkn129 Alma34

+2.452766005 -0.494923794 Unkn130 Alma35

-0.543250900 +0.533728576 Unkn131 Alma36

+0.039658646 +1.032510358 Unkn132 Alma37

-0.864138876 +1.385440650 Unkn133 Alma38

-0.865053581 +1.004708054 Unkn134 Alma39

-0.964801319 +0.569260509 Unkn135 Alma40

-0.915936139 +1.111499660 Unkn136 Alma41

-0.310086471 +0.374522256 Unkn137 Alma42

+1.508918851 -0.892453892 Unkn138 Alma43

+0.470117636 +0.103047719 Unkn139 Alma44

+0.824246733 +0.708257502 Unkn140 Alma45

+1.163263431 -0.599782050 Unkn141 Alma46

+1.693554089 -0.536798696 Unkn142 Alma47

+1.173745409 -0.892474053 Unkn143 Alma48

+1.324383493 -0.963093429 Unkn144 Alma49

+1.335295619 -0.872875401 Unkn145 Alma50

+1.772165735 -0.931283116 Unkn146 Alma51

+1.548819480 -0.723029352 Unkn147 Alma52

+1.264231409 -1.104697462 Unkn148 Alma53

-0.637215623 +0.946307905 Unkn149 Alma54

+1.008141013 -0.296814779 Unkn150 Alma55

+0.781761924 -0.395566318 Unkn151 Alma56

+1.165543076 -0.851843347 Unkn152 Alma57

+0.842224216 -0.575424036 Unkn153 Alma58

+1.944994237 -1.005563044 Unkn154 Alma59

-0.239229473 +1.281610110 Unkn155 Alma60

-0.116896514 +0.624362409 Unkn156 Alma61

+1.928783409 -0.779123852 Unkn157 Alma62

+2.309035899 -0.752255430 Unkn158 Alma63

+1.581916175 -0.770839797 Unkn159 Helaman01

+1.178456339 -0.306920844 Unkn160 Helaman02

+1.592315091 -0.843629792 Unkn161 Helaman03

+1.745561721 -0.583749086 Unkn162 Helaman04

+1.134181604 +0.355758543 Unkn163 Helaman05

+1.685627122 -0.739794044 Unkn164 Helaman06

+0.258225984 +1.230912088 Unkn165 Helaman07

+0.589104675 +1.532500551 Unkn166 Helaman08

+0.253992568 +0.771342738 Unkn167 Helaman09

+1.148347662 +0.549642213 Unkn168 Helaman10

+1.390046888 -0.302538314 Unkn169 Helaman11

-0.036799331 +1.162474414 Unkn170 Helaman12

-0.131744865 +1.290681147 Unkn171 Helaman13

-0.176535651 +1.311862054 Unkn172 Helaman14

+0.078617255 +1.409515379 Unkn173 Helaman15

+0.983955382 +0.210385338 Unkn174 Helaman16

+1.293650352 -0.083689360 Unkn175 3Nephi01

+2.017809993 -0.795973878 Unkn176 3Nephi02

+0.804960542 +0.372998780 Unkn177 3Nephi03

+1.430167607 -0.521667735 Unkn178 3Nephi04

+0.507286025 +0.005986201 Unkn179 3Nephi05

+1.851591759 -0.601163978 Unkn180 3Nephi06

+1.669520194 -0.635730490 Unkn181 3Nephi07

+1.079472319 -0.677848929 Unkn182 3Nephi08

+0.089492402 +0.913222781 Unkn183 3Nephi09

+0.904619220 -0.000322414 Unkn184 3Nephi10

+0.357460246 +0.724250448 Unkn185 3Nephi11

-1.065248158 +1.532601680 Unkn186 3Nephi12

-1.179690718 +1.881481399 Unkn187 3Nephi13

-0.427153110 +1.036286043 Unkn188 3Nephi14

-0.155361779 +2.063754002 Unkn189 3Nephi15

-0.317609671 +1.720796881 Unkn190 3Nephi16

+0.440375260 +0.451993740 Unkn191 3Nephi17

-0.178482384 +2.036553225 Unkn192 3Nephi18

+1.347019708 +0.551461557 Unkn193 3Nephi19

-0.041082917 +1.047387955 Unkn194 3Nephi20

-0.135430828 +2.297456015 Unkn195 3Nephi21

-1.110138533 +0.663752766 Unkn196 3Nephi22

+1.320447161 +1.782248004 Unkn197 3Nephi23

-0.441992449 +1.078646004 Unkn198 3Nephi24

-0.553943771 +0.857223642 Unkn199 3Nephi25

+0.905751018 +1.076787484 Unkn200 3Nephi26

-0.468590202 +2.201637949 Unkn201 3Nephi27

+0.442369044 +0.779362809 Unkn202 3Nephi28

-0.972838856 +1.070892383 Unkn203 3Nephi29

-0.717182566 +1.324926403 Unkn204 3Nephi30

+1.789791373 -0.509124624 Unkn205 4Nephi01

+1.188316014 -0.027150008 Unkn206 Mormon01

+1.445026637 -0.599249865 Unkn207 Mormon02

+1.104120094 +0.040076613 Unkn208 Mormon03

+1.840121584 -0.244559799 Unkn209 Mormon04

+0.513596926 +0.806420555 Unkn210 Mormon05

+0.812111475 -0.583754845 Unkn211 Mormon06

-0.534037272 +1.182698077 Unkn212 Mormon07

-0.33617566 +1.364807915 Unkn213 Mormon08

-0.763377381 +1.071009602 Unkn214 Mormon09

+0.516871658 -0.252707177 Unkn215 Ether01

+0.399432036 +0.448524141 Unkn216 Ether02

+0.069988417 +1.274756082 Unkn217 Ether03

-0.417885589 +2.089323649 Unkn218 Ether04

-0.783466798 +2.082270771 Unkn219 Ether05

+2.116922412 -0.243144372 Unkn220 Ether06

+2.086434066 -0.546497363 Unkn221 Ether07

+0.708377842 +0.834621757 Unkn222 Ether08

+1.807907557 -0.390065981 Unkn223 Ether09

+1.779921149 -0.658294064 Unkn224 Ether10

+1.988284946 -0.427107599 Unkn225 Ether11

+0.020287409 +1.014116553 Unkn226 Ether12

+1.029753860 +0.248999252 Unkn227 Ether13

+1.426752289 -0.641522821 Unkn228 Ether14

+1.817223808 -0.329889955 Unkn229 Ether15

-0.996404559 +1.101075480 Unkn230 Moroni01

-0.371471708 +0.475442210 Unkn231 Moroni02

-0.040633085 -0.519278389 Unkn232 Moroni03

+0.205568069 +0.273452674 Unkn233 Moroni04

-0.129054021 +1.238365019 Unkn234 Moroni05

+0.841447666 -0.972379557 Unkn235 Moroni06

-0.964356829 +1.393361871 Unkn236 Moroni07

-0.701491084 +0.963457685 Unkn237 Moroni08

-0.332356508 +0.713054031 Unkn238 Moroni09

-0.661190551 +1.408808740 Unkn239 Moroni10

[cdowis]

Are you going to post only the data from the winner, or also from the other entrants.

Could you link us to an explanation on what this all means. For example, I see alot of "unknown" but not sure of the significance.

[44Foxtrot]

Could you link us to an explanation on what this all means. For example, I see alot of "unknown" but not sure of the significance.

There are a number of tutorials on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) available on the internet.

A PCA data table and plot analogous to those above are shown and explained on the last page of this tutorial.

[Uncle Dale]

...

I see alot of "unknown" but not sure of the significance.

The 239 Book of Mormon chapters were all marked "unknown writer,"

because it was their purported authorship that was being tested.

It only took a cursory examination to verify that the several

Isaiah chapters and the two Malachi chapters were written by

those men (or somebody with a very, very similar "word-print."

That leaves over 200 Book of Mormon chapters for which the

authorship remains "unknown." Even if computerized analysis

verifies that all ten of the Moroni chapters were probably

written by the same author, non-LDS still do not know who

"Moroni" might be --> they have no independent verification

of the writings of such a person.

My associates have produced 5 different "pca charts," which

show distribution patterns of the 239 Book of Mormon chapters,

when compared in different ways to a progressive set of numerical

standards. One of the first things we will attempt to do, is to

examine those charts for the 10 Moroni chapters and Moroni's

chapters/sections in Ether.

If, in all five charts, Moroni's contributions cluster together,

that will provide some evidence that the same person wrote all

of the texts attributed to that Nephite.

If, on the other hand, the various texts attributed to "Moroni"

do not cluster together on that set of charts --- then we may

need to re-think the authorship of those Book of Mormon texts.

etc., etc.

Uncle Dale

.

[Uncle Dale]

...

A PCA data table and plot analogous to those above

...

At least we can now begin to sort out which Book of Mormon books

are which, in the over-all chart.

For example, a friend in Oregon just made this extended chart:

UD

[Chris Smith]

Mine's easier on the eyes:

[Uncle Dale]

Mine's easier on the eyes:

...

Yes -- I think you're right about that.

We need to find somebody with the expertise to translate

the graphic into vector data, so it can be imported into

a pdf document, and remain clear/accurate at high magnification.

I've seen this done with Abobe Illustrator and AutoCad graphics,

but do not have the expertise to turn tabular data into

scatter diagrams (other than via Excel, which evidently does

not convert automatically into scalable pdfs)...

Anybody know how to perform such magic?

UD

[Uncle Dale]

...

If, on the other hand, the various texts attributed to "Moroni"

do not cluster together on that set of charts --- then we may

need to re-think the authorship of those Book of Mormon texts.

...

Of course, I was being a bit playful when I said that -- knowing

from Bruce's own pc1/pc2 chart (and from our own re-constructions)

that the ten Moroni chapters do NOT cluster tightly together,

when charted out in a pca distribution.

This fact may be partly based in the short lengths of the initial

Moroni chapters -- there may simply be insufficient text there,

from which to extract meaningful values and authorship deductions.

But, we also have Moroni's purported editorial contributions to

Ether; which extend our analytical resources somewhat, and allow

us to examine how tightly the Moroni texts cluster together in

various pca chartings.

In the example provided below, four of the Moroni chapters that

Jockers attributes to Rigdon, more or less cluster in a group to

the right of the plottings of Rigdon's known texts. On the "y axis"

of the chart (principle component #2) those four Moroni chapters

are indistinguishable from Rigdon's work. But on the "x axis" of

the chart, something has pulled them over to a position to the right

of Rigdon's writings.

In other words, the pc1/pc2 charting tells us that four of the Moroni

chapters that Jockers attributes to Sidney Rigdon DO group tightly

with Rigdon's known texts, in one respect -- but DO NOT fall near

Rigdon's style of authorship in another respect.

I find that interesting. Our four additional pca charts provide even

more interesting evidence of Rigdon/BoM textual relationships. More

on that later...

UD

---------- added ---------

I forgot to mention that we have also performed some initial word-print

testing on the "Third Epistle of Peter," published by Sidney Rigdon and

his co-worker in an 1824 pamphlet; as well as the 1835 "Lectures on Faith,"

which have often been identified as Rigdon's probable writings.

.

Any guesses as to where those texts' assigned coordinates will plot out

on a pca chart, similar to the Moroni/Rigdon example I just provided?

Closer to Rigdon's other texts' plots?

Closer to "Moroni?"

Far away from both the red and blue symbols on that chart?

Does it even matter...

???

UD

[CA Steve]

Thanks UD. Interesting stuff.

[Uncle Dale]

Thanks UD. Interesting stuff.

Always glad to be of help.

If Bruce is correct, and pca charts show us information useful

in determining whether the same author could have written two

entirely different texts -- then we all can be interested here.

If Bruce is wrong, and pca charts do not automatically exclude

author-candidates from any further consideration -- then at

least the 19th century BoM authorship enthusiasts can persevere.

UD

[Uncle Dale]

...

If Bruce is wrong, and pca charts do not automatically exclude

author-candidates from any further consideration -- then at

least the 19th century BoM authorship enthusiasts can persevere.

I'll say a little more about that current controversy:

Attached are two interesting charts, derived from our

recently developed pc1/pc2 chart of Jockers' BoM authorship

attributions raw data. (Bruce posted something similar here

sometime back, as some of you may recall).

In the first chart, notice that the shortest "migration path" is

between Alma 48-49-50-51-52-53. This is what we might logically

expect to see if a single author wrote a narrative in sequence,

separating it into blocks of texts that were not subsequently

altered very much.

But not ALL of the migration paths between Alma chapters are

so short and simplistic as the Alma 48-->53 example. And I think

that the configurations exhibited in the second chart show why...

The "internals" of our pc1/pc2 chart's "Book of Mormon plot cloud,"

become clear as we begin to label its data plots in terms of BoM

chapters. Once we begin to do that we see that Jockers' 2008/2010

authorship attributions show up as "clusters" there also.

Think of it all as a group of actors having conversations. At home,

they speak in their normal voices -- but ON THE STAGE they assume

a few different vocal qualities. If the Nephite Record was truly

composed by 19th century authors, then those authors' contributions

within the Book of Mormon effectively put them ON THE STAGE (of archaic

English, repetitive speaking, limited subject matter, etc.) for our

entertainment.

The result is -- the same clusterings show up WITHIN the BoM cloud,

as OUTSIDE of it, but separated from our "actors" normal voices -- which

plot elsewhere (OUTSIDE the BoM cloud) in the pc1/pc2 chart. In the pc3/pc4,

etc. charts, those actors' stage-voices are muted a little, and we see their

clusters WITHIN the BoM begin to overlap their clusters OUTSIDE of it.

and...

I presume that this phenomenon will be addressed by any careful critics

of Bruce's forthcoming paper, featuring his own pca chart(s)

UD

.

[Uncle Dale]

...

I presume that this phenomenon will be addressed by any careful critics

of Bruce's forthcoming paper, featuring his own pca chart(s)

Of course I may be wrong about that. If the paper and the chart(s)

end up being published in a MI journal, perhaps the peer reviewers

will tend to skip over the "internals" of the pca charts and

concentrate upon the assertion that NSC classification cannot

properly be utilized with author-candidates who are not already

known to be contributors to collections of anonymous texts.

However, if presenting a pc1/pc2 chart of Jockers' tabulated data

is meant to serve as a ROADBLOCK to any further 19th century author

candidacy, then I'd suggest that the paper's reviewers take a long,

hard look at the Book of Mormon chapters' "plot cloud" in that chart,

and ask why it has the internal structure I'm beginning to reveal.

I believe that Bruce is saying that his pca chart (of Jockers' data)

effectively ends 19th century authorship controversy & investigations,

because it shows the 19th century authors' writings to plot out as

being widely separated from BoM chapters. Thus, those 19th century

authors are very, very unlikely candidates for BoM texts contribution.

I'm now beginning to reveal that INSIDE of the BoM, the sections

previously (before Bruce's charting) attributed to those 19th century

authors ALSO cluster into succinct groupings identifiable by author.

We see this phenomenon most clearly in the development of Alma chapter

inter-relationships -- as I've shown with Cowdery/Smith & Spalding/Pratt

constellations. But we can obtain some similar results when we look

inside of the pc1/pc2 "Book of Mormon cloud" for details pertaining

to Mosiah, or for Ether-Moroni.

And ----> when we re-assemble ALL of the BoM individual book details,

into a composite, labeled with Jockers' authorship attributions --->

we see even stronger evidence for a "Spaldingish cluster," etc. therein.

I do not believe that all of this can be dismissed with a wave of the

saintly hand and a rolling of Provo eyes.

My contention is, that Bruce's own charting offers evidence that some

(or all) of those 19th century writers DID contribute to the Book of

Mormon --- but, INSIDE of that lengthy text, their individual contributions

are somewhat altered and disfigured by BoM archaic English, frequent

repetitions, biblical formulas, etc.

Alice, on the "real world" side of the looking-glass is easily

identifiable as "Alice." But, once she has entered the realm of

the looking-glass, everything she does is reversed and distorted.

Although she may repeat the same sort of activities inside of

the looking-glass, as she did outside of it, her two sets of

actions are separated by the very fact of the looking-glass itself.

That is why we see the various 19th century authors' texts form

individual clusters OUTSIDE of the BoM "cloud" in Bruce's chart.

But, INSIDE the BoM those same contributors each retain enough of

their individual writing characteristics to again form some distinct

clusters INSIDE of the BoM "cloud" in Bruce's chart.

Of course, if I'm wrong -- and such considerations should not be

brought to the attention of Bruce's peer reviewers -- I'll eat my

humble crow-pie, and apologize profusely.

Is it too soon for me to put on my winter coat and trek to Canossa?

Uncle Dale

.

[CA Steve]

UD I readily admit that I do not understand all of what your saying. . . yet. So forgive me if you have answered this already. Does this process have a way of accounting for the influence a scribe may have had in a poorly understood translation process verses the scribe being the sole author? Or am I just missing the whole point?

[Uncle Dale]

...

Does this process have a way of accounting for the influence a scribe may have

had in a poorly understood translation process verses the scribe being the sole author?

...

I'll put on my old RLDS apologist's hat for just a moment....

If the Book of Mormon was written by Nephites; and if Joseph Smith

added in his own vernacular during its translation; and if his

scribe(s) also had some influence ----> then, might we not expect

some very jumbled and non-homogeneous textual results?

After all, the book itself purports to have heavily edited portions,

in which Nephi redacts Jacob; or Mormon redacts Zeniff and Helaman;

or Moroni redacts Ether.

Cats, kits, sacks and wives -- how many were going to St. Ives?

[/tinfoil hat apologetics]

UD

[cdowis]

Think of it all as a group of actors having conversations. At home,

they speak in their normal voices -- but ON THE STAGE they assume

a few different vocal qualities. If the Nephite Record was truly

composed by 19th century authors, then those authors' contributions

within the Book of Mormon effectively put them ON THE STAGE (of archaic

English, repetitive speaking, limited subject matter, etc.) for our

entertainment.

snip

My contention is, that Bruce's own charting offers evidence that some

(or all) of those 19th century writers DID contribute to the Book of

Mormon --- but, INSIDE of that lengthy text, their individual contributions

are somewhat altered and disfigured by BoM archaic English, frequent

repetitions, biblical formulas, etc.

Alice, on the "real world" side of the looking-glass is easily

identifiable as "Alice." But, once she has entered the realm of

the looking-glass, everything she does is reversed and distorted.

Although she may repeat the same sort of activities inside of

the looking-glass, as she did outside of it, her two sets of

actions are separated by the very fact of the looking-glass itself.

This is precisely why Hilton chose to do his analysis on non-contextual words and phrases. You can do an analysis of the voice which filters out the stage effect of the voice, and you can use, for example, facial recognition software to recognize Alice, either inside or outside the mirror.

Your analysis, by your own admission, is ineffective.

[Uncle Dale]

...

You need to demonstrate

...

No, not really.

I do not publish finished results in non-sectarian, peer-reviewed

professional literature. That is a task for my "betters."

I am merely the voice of one crying...

"in the wilderness make straight the paths..."

Uncle Dale

[Ahab]

If the Book of Mormon was written by Nephites; and if Joseph Smith

added in his own vernacular during its translation; and if his

scribe(s) also had some influence ----> then, might we not expect

some very jumbled and non-homogeneous textual results?

I don't see any good reason why anyone would expect that. If the Book of Mormon came to us as we (LDS) believe it did, the final result is mainly the work of one man who wrote in his own vernacular as he received inspiration from God, along with some minor input from the few men who wrote as scribes for Joseph.

After all, the book itself purports to have heavily edited portions,

in which Nephi redacts Jacob; or Mormon redacts Zeniff and Helaman;

or Moroni redacts Ether.

Yes, until it all got to Joseph who redacted them all with inspiration from God.

[Uncle Dale]

...

Yes, until it all got to Joseph who redacted them all with inspiration from God.

Perhaps so -- perhaps so.

I recall attending a Sunday school class years back,

in which each attendee rose and voiced his/her testimony,

of "knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt" that the Nephite

Record was "true."

Until it was my turn -- out of the 15 or 20 participants,

I was the only hold-out.

Then again, I was the only one of the bunch who declined

to testify that God had given me an assurance that the

Reorganized LDS Church was His one true church on earth.

So -- perhaps I got "half" of the matter resolved correctly,

at least.

UD

[Uncle Dale]

...

And ----> when we re-assemble ALL of the BoM individual book details,

into a composite, labeled with Jockers' authorship attributions --->

we see even stronger evidence for a "Spaldingish cluster," etc. therein.

...

At this point in our examination, it is important to recall that the

Stanford researchers have assigned degrees of validation to the various

BoM chapter authorship attributions.

For example, how should they decide the attribution of a chapter that

rates a 60% probability for Oliver Cowdery, but also a 40% probability

for Joseph Smith as its author? The answer is, that they would assign

such a chapter's authorship to Cowdery -- but with the provision that it

might have originated with Smith; or was a cooperative Cowdery/Smith effort.

I have not attempted to display degrees of authorship assurance in the

preliminary pca-details graphics we are putting together. Where you see

"outliers," plotted at a substantial distance from the center of the

"Cowdery-Smith cloud" or from the center of the "Spalding-Pratt cloud,"

keep in mind the fact that some of these oddities may result from instances

of combined authorship, or heavy editing by a second party.

The Mosiah results are less definite than what we saw in Alma. There is still

a "Spalding cloud" of attributed chapters in the lower right portion of the

graphic, but it is not as intense or as tightly grouped as we saw in Alma:

Just to recall what was in that Alma chart, let's overlay it atop

our results for Mosiah:

Now we are beginning to see what the "Book of Mormon cloud" looks

like, with chapter labels attached to its plot points. We still have

1st Nephi, 2nd Nephi, Helaman, etc. etc. to add to our overlay ---

but doing so quickly produces un-readable results.

I'll reserve any additional "overlays" for eventual posting at my

web-site.

But, I think you can now get the idea I'm trying to communicate...

UD

[Uncertain]

Uncle Dale,

Interesting, I suppose you are looking at chapters written by Moroni because they presumably would be free from Mormons editing? Along those same lines what about Nephi's writings? There are if I recall more Nephi chapters than Moroni chapters they have a tendency to be longer and they should also be free of any editing by Mormon. With regards to the pca scatter plots you have displayed they are in my view somewhat cluttered many different data points are being plotted and it can make it difficult to view particular partitions of the data. It would be nice to plot as controls known authors say Cowdery, Ridgon and Spaulding along with chapters written by one or two selected authors from the BOM say Moroni and Nephi. This in my view will make visual comparisons easier as compared to plotting all BOM chapters at once. If Cowdery, Ridgon and Spaulding show a tendency to form tight clouds while Moroni and Nephi do not. This then would be evidence that for example the Nephi chapters were not all written by the same author contrary to the BOM claims. If on the other hand the Nephi/Moroni chapters do form tight individual clusters similar to that seen with the control authors this would be evidence two separate authors were responsible for the Moroni/Nephi chapters which would support the BOM claims.

Best,

Uncertain

[Uncle Dale]

Uncle Dale,

Interesting, I suppose you are looking at chapters written by Moroni because they presumably would be free from Mormons editing?

That would be one logical starting point for close examination of the text.

Moroni's "voice" is ostensibly present in the book of his name -- and then

again in parts of Ether. If Moroni was a single person (one distinct writer),

then we should be able to produce a discrete "word-print" for him, and then

compare its pattern across the entire Book of Mormon. If we've assumed all

of the above correctly, then that "voice" should only appear in the last

two BoM books. If it appears elsewhere -- or if a "foreign voice" occurs

where we expect to hear Moroni -- then that would be troublesome.

Along those same lines what about Nephi's writings? There are if I recall more Nephi chapters than Moroni chapters they have a tendency to be longer and they should also be free of any editing by Mormon.

Yes -- but I am uncertain of Nephi's source material. In many

places the text purports to be "pure Nephi," but in some places

(such as in Jacob) we evidently do not have "pure Nephi." So

I'm less eager to wade into Nephi's texts than Moroni's.

With regards to the pca scatter plots you have displayed they are in my view somewhat cluttered many different data points are being plotted and it can make it difficult to view particular partitions of the data. It would be nice to plot as controls known authors say Cowdery, Ridgon and Spaulding along with chapters written by one or two selected authors from the BOM say Moroni and Nephi. This in my view will make visual comparisons easier as compared to plotting all BOM chapters at once.

Yes, I understand what you are saying. But keep in mind the fact

that pca charts are not purposely designed to separate out individual

authors from a mixture of texts. Where the charting performs that task,

it is a by-product of the software program's primary function -- of

displaying deviations from the mean of the totality of texts/authors.

If Cowdery, Ridgon and Spaulding show a tendency to form tight clouds while Moroni and Nephi do not. This then would be evidence that for example the Nephi chapters were not all written by the same author(s) contrary to the BOM claims.

Again, this may be something important --- but pca charts can only

provide us with some hints of what to investigate by other means.

They are "looking through a glass darkly" -- by which it is easier

to discern wide separations of plots, than it is to discern the

content and origins of clustered plots.

If on the other hand the Nephi/Moroni chapters do form tight individual clusters similar to that seen with the control authors this would be evidence two separate authors were responsible for the Moroni/Nephi chapters which would support the BOM claims.

Best,

Uncertain

I think you've got some interesting ideas going here --

but it will take other researchers, using other means,

to better address those issues.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step...

UD

[Uncle Dale]

...

I'll reserve any additional "overlays" for eventual posting at my

web-site.

...

Come to think of it, there is one more that might be of interest:

Here we see the Mosiah-Alma component of the "Book of Mormon cloud"

of pca plot points -- stretched out across the right side of the chart.

The Oberlin manuscript Spalding chapters cluster together in the

lower left of this excerpt from the pc1/pc2 chart.

When we move on to inspecting the pc3/pc4, etc., charts, we see

these two reddish clusters (Oberlin Spalding and attributed BoM

Spalding) begin to overlap and merge together into one constellation.

Probably THAT happens because, in those other pca charts, we are

reducing the quantity/strength of textual elements that make the

texts DIFFER from the mean value.

Elementary -- my Dear Watson...

UD

[Uncle Dale]

...

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step...

...

I've been playing around with the idea of some 3-D "map"

sequences, derived from the pca charts of the Jockers' data.

In that set of graphics, the Oberlin Spalding MS's chapters'

plot points on the "map" start out in close proximity to the

Book of Mormon chapters attributed to Spalding (in pc4/pc6),

and then --- frame-by-frame --- move farther away from those

BoM plot points on the "map," until, in the last frame of

that set of sequences, we have a view of what is essentially

Bruce Schaalje's previously posted pre-pub chart.

That works as a great clarification of what the Oberlin chapters

are, in relationship to the Book of Mormon. Those Oberlin Spalding

chapters are a "cluster" that group together on the pca charts

because they share many textual elements -- common factors in a

wide range of data depicted in the pca charts.

The Spalding-attributed chapters INSIDE of the Book of Mormon "cloud"

in the pca charts, also share many textual elements, and so they

form a cluster there as well. This is most clearly demonstrated in

the pc1/pc2 chart of Jockers' data, that Bruce brought to our

attention some time back.

But pc1/pc2 is merely the "end of the line" in a progressive sequence

of chartings, which serve to separate the initial close proximity of

the Oberlin Spalding chapters and the BoM Spalding-attributed chapters

in pc5/pc6, etc.

Unfortunately the stages of that separation, illustrated across an

overlapping sequence of pca charts, is not uniform and uni-directional.

The results, when animated, look more like a swarm of bees in motion,

eventually coming apart into two stable configurations, widely separated,

at the end of the animation.

I may have to simplify the depiction and present it as a series of

Powerpoint slides, in order to show that the Oberlin Spalding chapters

and the Spalding-attributed BoM chapters truly do share many significant

textual elements. Enough of them to indicate shared authorship.

Anybody interested?

Can I attach Bruce Schaalje's name to the title of my planned

Powerpoint animation; or would that be unprofessional and mean-spirited?

UD