Comments on: Become A Voynich Manuscript Expert In Just 5 Minutes…

By: Diane

Diane — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:05:29 +0000

I think I can explain the hatching – and the use of cylindrical containers pre- 1450.

But I don’t know (blush) how to put a paper up on the web.

I needs to use pictures to think good..

By: nickpelling

nickpelling — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:48:16 +0000

Fixed, sorry to have offended your sensibilities – serves me right for typing so fastical.

By: Clayton

Clayton — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:27:35 +0000

‘Ironical’????!!! I *%&^ing hate that mistake

By: Nick Pelling

Nick Pelling — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:10:00 +0000

Actually, an abundance of sincerely-held theories can be a hindrance, in that their proponents will actively construct elaborate arguments to explain away any awkward facts that happen to contradict those theories.

And so each fact is shadowed by an "anti-fact" explaining it away: sometimes it seems that each fact gets beaten up until it produces the opposite reading.

In fact, I would point out that this is probably why even the most basic dating facts about the VMs (such as its mostly-15th century quire numbers) have ended up being sidelined, marginalised by a strangely reactionary body of experts.

So, are the facts to blame for stagnation in VMs research? Or might the experts perhaps have something to do with it?

By: KenW

KenW — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:37:00 +0000

I agree. Facts are essential. Yet until we have enough of them to build a more reliable foundation, casting the widest net may be our best bet to spark a line of inquiry which could lead to an as yet unknown nugget of information. I’m not talking the “knowledge of the Pleidians given to the Nine Unknown Men, etc.” sort. As you describe there are enough VMS experts to separate the wheat from the chaff.

By: Nick Pelling

Nick Pelling — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:04:00 +0000

Perhaps people could try to work together to find more facts?

I would say that throwing yet more empty theories onto the fire is a strategy that has yet to provide any heat…

By: KenW

KenW — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:27:00 +0000

Spot on Nick! But isn’t that the entire dilemma with any theory based on such a small set of facts? What else do we have but to throw out all our theories (from insanely self-involved to hard-researched and inflexible) and see which idea sparks the next? That’s all we have until we find the original Latin introduction or ISBN number. Yes, I’m a VMS (or VMs?) expert and I love the goofy plethora of theories our little obsession has spawned. There is something refreshingly egalitarian about the ease at which we dub ourselves experts. Want to develop a graduate course in VMS studies? First to step up wins.