Distinguishing Characters

[MichelleL11]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but so far I am not aware of any cipher that illuminates what could be going on with the VM. I suspect there would be more interest in this if there was a closer connection between the VM and the known ciphers of the time. Right now it feels like looking for a needle in a haystack where you don't even know if there is any needle at all. 

The reason why I'm drawn to trying to understand on a fundamental level what ciphers have been found and to look at any others that can be located is because of my experience of being in the "innovation business" for my entire career.  If there is one truth I've learned is that nothing innovative comes from out of the blue.  Any one who claims that or tries to present their work as being disconnected from others is either not telling the truth and/or not giving credit to previous ideas (often, sadly, on purpose).

Thus, it makes sense to me to understand how ciphers worked at the time and to really study the small amount of written evidence we have around and as immediately after the carbon dating as we can get on the topic if the theory that the Voynich was written in a cipher is to be fully investigated.

Of course, as you say, Koen, nothing connected to the Voynich text may survive -- but the last thing I want to do is overlook what might be there for the mere fact that I didn't recognize it for what it was.

I know that some on the board don't agree with this sentiment, but I have been convinced that the written word functioned fundamentally differently in the medieval period than currently (both as communication and socially through possession) and the greater the understanding of this mindset by the person(s) trying to interpret the Voynich text to the person(s) who created it, the more likely it could be understood.

Of course, I would not be running after this understanding if I didn't find it incredibly interesting in its own right.

Will this work on medieval ciphers solve the Voynich text?  Likely not.  But I am trying to increase the chances that I can contribute by learning these aspects that are interesting to me, that make sense to me to be part of what a solution would take, and collaborating with others that see value in this approach.