18-03-2024, 03:21 PM
Again, I recognize what you describe from my own experience 8 years ago when I started studying the manuscript. My first ideas about Q13 related to distillation and similar processes. I didn't really see this working out though, so I ended up switching to another theory. This idea that I ditched my initial impulses in favor of something I would not immediately relate to reinforced my feelings that my secondary theories had to be right.
...but the process is still one propelled by confirmation bias. Aspects that confirm the theory are accepted and reinforce the idea, while everything else is disregarded. It does not matter how likely we were to come up with this theory, or how many theories we've had before. Confirmation bias is what drives most Voynich theories, and it is the reason why so many intelligent people (again, including myself at some point) are fooled into believing they have the solution.
...but the process is still one propelled by confirmation bias. Aspects that confirm the theory are accepted and reinforce the idea, while everything else is disregarded. It does not matter how likely we were to come up with this theory, or how many theories we've had before. Confirmation bias is what drives most Voynich theories, and it is the reason why so many intelligent people (again, including myself at some point) are fooled into believing they have the solution.