What is the writer saying here?

Question

This is a very long sentence. I wonder if you could break in down into basic and clear English. Thank you.

If, ten thousand years ago, you had been asked to guess which would be the seat of the greatest future civilisations, you would probably have settled on some part of Central or South America on the basis of the amazing things they were doing with food there. Academics call this potion of the new World Mesoamerica, an accommodatingly vague term which could fairly be defined as Central America plus as much or as little of North and South America as are needed to support hypothesis.

Thanks!

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

AnonymousThis is a very long sentence.

Actually, there are two sentences.
1.
Imagine that you live 10,000 years ago.
Someone asks you, "Guess where the most advanced people of the future will live?"
You decide to pick Central or South America.
The reason is that they are excellent and creative cooks.
2.
Professors name this place Mesoamerica.
Mesoamerica does not have clear boundaries.
However, it consists of Central America plus some parts of North and South America.
Every professor draws different boundaries. Some might be thinking about technology and science.
Others might be thinking of religion. Still others might be thinking about the system of government..

SoSaysSunny · Answer

I agree with AlpheccaStars but would add one comment:

AnonymousAcademics call this potion of the New World Mesoamerica, an accommodatingly vague term which could fairly be defined as Central America plus as much or as little of North and South America as are needed to support hypothesis.

In this sentence, the author is giving a harsh opinion of the term Mesoamerica (because it is poorly defined) and the people (academics) who take advantage of its loose definition to prove anything.

For example: An professor decides to divide Mesoamerica's wealth by its area to describe the "average wealth" by area. Because there are no strict boundaries for Mesoamerica, the professor's choice of a small or large area would greatly affect the "average wealth" result.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

SoSaysSunnythe author is giving a harsh opinion

I respectfully disagree. I think you have read too much between the lines here.
Among the great civilizations of Mesoamerica you have the Olmecs, Mayans, and Aztecs. They all had their centers in Central America.

SoSaysSunny · Answer

AnonymousAcademics call this portion of the New World Mesoamerica, an accommodatingly vague term which could fairly be defined as Central America plus as much or as little of North and South America as are needed to support hypothesis.

I completely agree with your list of great civilizations from Mesoamerica. I was referring to the original author's description (see above).

What I interpret as harsh criticism is mainly in the underlined sections. If you do not read it the same way, how do you interpret the tone of those sections?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

I interpret it as historians, archaeologists and anthropologists would define the borders differently as appropriate for their field of study and scholarly research topic. The borders could change as civilizations and cultures rose and fell over long time periods. The author is talking about 10,000 years, after all, and I don't know of any place in the world where boundaries were stable for any length of time.

The author does not mean that "accommodation" is intended to distort some set of demographic, polling or survey data for some self-serving or political purpose. In this modern world of "big data" there is a lot of potential for "harshness" in skewing or interpreting data to prove a particular point; usually related to public policy or political outrage. But that is a development of the "information age" where there is ample room for distortion. I don't believe it applies in this context.

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