philosophical question about Voynich research

[MarcoP]

No, as far as I am concerned, the fun will only start after we crack it.

Hi Koen,
personally, I agree with what you write, but obviously it doesn't apply to everyone.

There are people who are interested in the VMS, but not in the text of other manuscripts: they are not attracted by ancient works that can be read. They will lose all interest in the subject, as soon the main problem is solved. In my opinion, this includes much of the "image only" activity: several people use the images to project whatever they want; once that freedom is gone, so will be their interest. The same applies to much of the here-is-my-translation stuff we read daily: those are exercises in creative writing and will find new areas to express themselves when what is written in the manuscript is scientifically known.

Also, when the "formula" is found, there will be a lot of work for researchers with actual competence in the specific language and culture that produced the text. Those who have never read a single medieval manuscript (most of us, myself included of course) will likely be unable to contribute. But I agree that it will be interesting to see what the experts publish  

Finally, Lisa Fagin Davis (the palaeographer who currently is Executive Director of the Medieval Academy of America) You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. that she "kind of hopes" that the manuscript stays unsolved. She is one of those people who have the skills to contribute to the research even after the linguistic side is solved. But I guess that, from her point of view, working on the manuscript when it can be read would be "business as usual", not as thrilling as an unsolved mystery.