[Movie] Is the Voynich Manuscript an Elaborate Medieval Hoax?

[Koen G]

I agree with the statistical analysis and the need to talk about them. However, I disagree with the conclusion. If I remember the video correctly, Sledge doesn't demonstrate that it cannot be a cipher. He instead argues that it is unlikely to be a cipher done by any of the known medieval methods, which is something I agree with. But from this, he infers that it is not a cipher, but something else. However, this something else is also unattested. The VM is novel and unique altogether, so saying "the cipher would be novel" is not a good argument.

Regarding Bowern's experiment with her students, I have said before in relation to a similar experiment I did with Marco, that it would be better if participants were not aware of the VM. 

Still, the issue remains that if the makers of the VM developed a method of text generation, it would have been something new and unique. Moreover, they didn't invent it as they went along (even though the system evolves). The system stands from the start and immediately produces text with the remarkable properties we all know.

Regarding the manuscript's value, as we have been discussing this is highly dependent on context. We don't know if an unreadable manuscript would have had value in medieval times, or if that value would have been worth the investment of materials. Maybe a copy of the bible would have fetched way more. We simply don't know. Rudolf lived in his own time and context, much later than the makers of the VM.