Interview questions suggestion thread

[davidjackson]

Koen and I have got off our fat posteriors and will shortly be carrying out our first Voynich.Ninja webchat of the year with: Nick Pelling.

I'd like to throw open the floor for possible interview questions, so feel free to suggest sensible Voynich related questions that we can put to him.

[Anton]

1. Nick's view on plant mnemonics
2. What are, in his opinion, most significant advances in the Voynich research in the recent years? Are we really moving forward or walking circles?

[Koen G]

Some things I can think of now:

* His book is some 10 years old now. Are there things his opinion has changed about since then?
* His opinion on the somewhat recurring pattern we see with Voynich "solutions" in the mainstream media.
* How does he see the study moving forward?
* Is the VM text a cipher?

[-JKP-]

...
2. What are, in his opinion, most significant advances in the Voynich research in the recent years? Are we really moving forward or walking circles?

• That's a good question, Anton. I second that one.
  
• I'd like to know Nick's feelings about the difference between researchers using the Web to do all their research (unfortunately, I fall into that category because I'm geographically distant) versus those who are able to visit repositories to check original sources that may not be on the Web (and those who are talking to experts along the way).
  
• I'd also like to hear his ideas about where beginners should start (I'm sure he would consider "Curse" a good start    )  so they are not retreading too much old ground. Maybe a short-list of his opinion of the best resources?
  
• I'd be curious to know what he thinks is the biggest mistake made by those prematurely claiming solutions and what they could do to avoid that kind of mistake.
  

[Diane]

Who would Nick most like to hear interviewed next?

[VViews]

Well, I'll preface this with what I've said about interviews of other Voynich bloggers: I don't see the point since we can ask them any questions directly in the comments on their blog.
But whatever. I'll play the game.
Since Curse, Nick Pelling has also presented his "block paradigm" approach.
Perhaps he could expand on that a little for those who are unfamiliar with it.
Has examining things under this angle has brought any significant/ promising insights, or allowed him to discover unexpected things?

[doranchak]

What do you think are the most interesting/unique/mysterious statistical features of Voynichese?
What studies of Voynichese do you think still need to be done to gain a better understanding of it?
What are you feelings about whether or not Voynichese is some form of automatic writing?

[Koen G]

The interview will happen tomorrow (Sunday) morning, last chance to get in your questions or topic suggestions!

[nickpelling]

* His opinion on the somewhat recurring pattern we see with Voynich "solutions" in the mainstream media.

For what it's worth, yesterday's Cipher Mysteries post covers that particular subject by offering a somewhat recurring open letter as a response:
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But anyway, looking forward to the interview! ;-)

[davidjackson]

You don't offer a +1 upvote on your blog, but that post is definitely my new go to default for new linguist theories!