RE: The Hoax Theory (was: VMs: Codex Seraphinianus...?)

[Nick Pelling <incoming@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Don,

At 17:35 17/07/2003 -0600, Don Latham wrote:
> IMHO, having studied a very little psyc., the VM is far too organized for
> glossolalia. In fact, glossolalia would look much like noise when subjected
> to analysis. If, on the other hand, a person with a strange but organized
> world view, and what is commonly referred to as a "paranoid" personality,
> might very well hide the strange view with encryption or code.  In that
> casae, there would be no desire to pass on the knowledge, hence no written
> down key. If the world view were strange enough, there would be no referent
> in, say, herbals or astrology of his time.  If a code, the "codebook" would
> be well hidden.

Certainly, the VMS' code / secret language might seem to indicate paranoia, 
or maybe anxiety: but perhaps its repetitious dain/daiin-iness might also 
seem correlated with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Alternatively, its 
numerous nymphs (and the rubbed-through hole in one folio) might also 
suggest a driving obsession with sex: or the whole MS could be the 
long-term result of a "lone gunman's" schizoid (or perhaps schizotypal?) 
personality disorder... etc etc.

Personally, I see the Voynich as a quite remarkable, rationally-conceived 
and deliberately-executed document - and so suspect that looking for flaws 
in its author's psyche to explain the apparent language structure might be 
something of a "cop-out"... a much easier answer than admitting the 
distinct possibility that the author was rationally able to out-think you.

Might it be safer to conclude that, as the VMS can be interpreted as 
indirectly exhibiting aspects of so many very different psychological 
pathologies simultaneously, it is in fact more likely to have been the 
product of an utterly balanced mind? :-9

Cheers, .....Nick Pelling..... 


______________________________________________________________________
To unsubscribe, send mail to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxx with a body saying:
unsubscribe vms-list