20-09-2020, 06:51 PM
Absolutely, Geoffrey. I recommend nobody take anything anyone says here personally. The VMs scene is a bit of a Wild West or pirates' cove, where there's no clear set rules, or even objectives. The scene doesn't lend itself to being policed in a top-down fashion, like you'll find in, say, university departments or legislative bodies. In such institutions, it may suffice to ask myself once at the outset, Why are these people here, and what are they here to do? But in a decentralized scene like this that attracts a motley cast of characters, I find it behooves me to ask the question Why is (s)he here, and what is (s)he trying to accomplish? anew with each person I engage with. I've found different VMs fans' answers to this question, implicit or explicit, have varied widely, and can never be assumed. Some people's motivations for exploring the VMs have dovetailed well with mine, others not so much. And that's OK.
"Professional" is an oft-abused word, that I tried to avoid for exactly the reason you mentioned. Indeed, only a small minority of VMs researchers have ever received any remuneration or career advancement as a direct result of their work on the VMs. If there is anyone here whose livelihood hinges on their ability to shed light on the VMs, I couldn't name them, because they're not showy about it. But that said, there are regular participants in VMs discussions who can rightly be called experts. In other words, they have years of formal education, training, or work experience in techniques that are directly applicable to analyzing the VMs and drawing scientific conclusions about it. They may not be professional Voynich scholars, but they are (or have been, or are training to be) professional coders, information scientists, linguists, translators, cryptographers, codicologists, and art historians. And though I'm free to say whatever I want to anyone I want, I've found my interactions with people more likely to be enjoyable and educational for all, when I go into it with the attitude of This person has something to teach me, and I'm grateful for that.
Even if what they've got to teach me is what not to do
"Professional" is an oft-abused word, that I tried to avoid for exactly the reason you mentioned. Indeed, only a small minority of VMs researchers have ever received any remuneration or career advancement as a direct result of their work on the VMs. If there is anyone here whose livelihood hinges on their ability to shed light on the VMs, I couldn't name them, because they're not showy about it. But that said, there are regular participants in VMs discussions who can rightly be called experts. In other words, they have years of formal education, training, or work experience in techniques that are directly applicable to analyzing the VMs and drawing scientific conclusions about it. They may not be professional Voynich scholars, but they are (or have been, or are training to be) professional coders, information scientists, linguists, translators, cryptographers, codicologists, and art historians. And though I'm free to say whatever I want to anyone I want, I've found my interactions with people more likely to be enjoyable and educational for all, when I go into it with the attitude of This person has something to teach me, and I'm grateful for that.
Even if what they've got to teach me is what not to do
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