"Not knowing", or changing one's mind.

[ReneZ]

My main point, or at least what triggered my post, was that, while there are clear differences between the humanities and the 'exact sciences', these may not be so fundamental. It is certainly possible to do what one might call 'scientific' work in the humanities.

The second point was not to try to 'force decisions' when the information to do that is insufficient.

At the same time, it is perfectly valid to work on the basis of assumptions, as long as one does not overestimate the probability that the assumptions are correct.

I don't think that the Voynich MS is entirely unique as a field of unbounded amateur attention.
While all cases are different, there is also Egyptology, with its theories about the pyramids and the sphinx(es),
or "life in the universe" (especially when it comes to supposed visits to Earth).
There's much more, and each has its own community.