26-05-2017, 08:51 PM
Whenever I think in a broad philosophical way about what the Voynich text could actually be, one idea often lurks in the shadows, but I find it hard to explain, partially because I don't know yet if and how it could work. So -disclaimer- expect some vague, half-baked and unfounded hypothesizing in what follows.
So I wonder... might the Voynich text be somewhat like this image?
[attachment=1407]
The information density of this image is greatly decreased. I removed all color saturation, and it is built of some large blocks instead of many different small ones. Yet in your mind this is enough to complete the picture. I provide the prompt, and you can perfectly fill in his facial expression, the shape of his bow, the position of his hands and the color of his clothes.
So basically what I'm getting at is the following: is it possible that "Voynichese" is just a prompt? Just enough information for the reader to add what's in his mind already?
Another parallel. Imagine that I wanted you to sing a certain song, but I don't want to write down the text because others are not allowed to read the exact lyrics. But I know you know the lyrics by heart. So in this case, I might just present you with the notes, and this relatively low entropy communication would be enough for you to sing the high-entropy song text.
Now if this is at all possible in some way or another, this also means we will never be able to read the manuscript, because the information was already in people's minds. The manuscript just helps them recall it. That is, unless the information is a text that has been recorded normally in another source.
Don't know if any of this makes any sense
- People before the advent of the printing press had a lot more information in their memories than we do now. This difference has even gotten much bigger in the (mobile) internet age, where we have the answer to every question in a piece of glass we carry around in our pockets. But before, it was perfectly normal for an entertainer to perform, say, the Iliad, over several days, completely by heart. But even common farmers would have beaten the best of us in a contest of memory, just because they were required to develop their mnemonic techniques much more than we are.
- Medieval books were generally written with a very specific audience in mind, sometimes even just one person.
- If the scribe knew what his reader(s) knew by heart, this knowledge could be exploited to obscure the text (for whatever reason).
So I wonder... might the Voynich text be somewhat like this image?
[attachment=1407]
The information density of this image is greatly decreased. I removed all color saturation, and it is built of some large blocks instead of many different small ones. Yet in your mind this is enough to complete the picture. I provide the prompt, and you can perfectly fill in his facial expression, the shape of his bow, the position of his hands and the color of his clothes.
So basically what I'm getting at is the following: is it possible that "Voynichese" is just a prompt? Just enough information for the reader to add what's in his mind already?
Another parallel. Imagine that I wanted you to sing a certain song, but I don't want to write down the text because others are not allowed to read the exact lyrics. But I know you know the lyrics by heart. So in this case, I might just present you with the notes, and this relatively low entropy communication would be enough for you to sing the high-entropy song text.
Now if this is at all possible in some way or another, this also means we will never be able to read the manuscript, because the information was already in people's minds. The manuscript just helps them recall it. That is, unless the information is a text that has been recorded normally in another source.
Don't know if any of this makes any sense