The value of imperfection
R. Sale > 12-06-2017, 07:55 PM
Imperfection, though frequently unavoidable, is generally seen as a detriment. In VMs investigations it is often problematic in the comparison of images. But the VMs is also something like a topsy-turvy world where things are not what they seem, but they are what they are.
I have been wondering, from the perspective of the VMs composer, who would be the person most likely to make sense of the contents? And in the medieval era the majority of people were still illiterate. Those who could read were often associated with and educated through the church. It might be assumed that it would take a determined individual to even attempt to make sense of VMs contents - a person that is devoted and meticulous.
And the VMs itself is extremely problematic. Is it a natural 'foreign' document of unknown origin? Is it encoded, encrypted? Does it make sense at all? Without being able to read the text and given the strange botanical, astrological, balneological, pharmacological illustrations, the VMs is like an intentionally weird haystack in which a few useful needles have been hidden - such as the Oresme cosmos and cloud band, in two parts.
So if the VMs is an intentionally covert document, who is it hiding from? Not from the illiterate majority. It needs to hide from the determined, inquisitive, meticulous minority. How can that be done? One technique is the use of imperfection. Take the example of the 4 by 17 symbol sequence of VMs f57v. It might be a potential candidate for a VMs alphabet or numerical sequence, *but* not all four sequences are identical and there are other glyphs found in the text. Those meticulous investigators who require consistent detail as a criterion for further investigation will be deterred. That which was hidden remains hidden (the existence of positional relationships in the glyph sequence).
It is not necessary that every correspondence is perfect. What is needed is to show the existence of this complex construction is intentional. And it can only be intentional because it is too complex and contains multiple, independent factors that accord with history and tradition which provide verification. In a manuscript where little makes much sense, there are subtle, obscure and ambiguous inclusions of normal, standard, traditional, historical information for the prospective reader's potential discovery and subjective interpretation. The challenge put forth by author/text is one of recognition and understanding of this *normal* information in a strange environment. Does the reader pass or fail? Is the investigation derailed by minor discrepancies rather than seeing the evidence as a whole. Are the potential, subjective interpretations denied even before the existence of objective, positional confirmations is discovered? Are there intentional discrepancies and imperfections intended to divert and deter those who require everything to be totally nailed down and verified in detail? Part of the purpose of these complex constructions in the VMs is that they are hidden.