Re: VMs: No stats no fun ---> no stats no blinkers! :-)

["Jeff" <jeff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Nick Pelling incoming@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote


> Hi Dennis,
>
> At 12:54 10/08/2003 -0500, Dennis wrote:
> > > Rather, I'm proposing a connected set of hypotheses which (if true)
would
> > > explain why prior statistical analyses of current transcriptions may
well
> > > have been taking secondary structural artefacts (ie, those of a
constructed
> > > word-game designed to resemble language)
> >
> >         My idea, of course, is that it is some sort of a word
> >game.  I don't
> >think I've heard this from you before.  Would you
> >elaborate for my dense mind?
>
> Consider the following (badly designed) pair cipher:-
>
>          a b c d e       =       ba be bi bo bu
>          f g h i j               =       ca ce ci co cu
>          k l m n o       =       da de di do du
>          p q r s t               =       fa fe fi fo fu
>          u v w x y       =       ga ge gi go gu
>          z & . , !               =       ha he hi ho hu
>
> -->     "Dennis"        =       "bobudodocofo"
>
> Whichever way you tried to analyse the individual letters in
> "bobudodocofo", you would get essentially nowhere, no matter how long the
> ciphertext happened to be. Similarly, letter adjacency statistics would
> give you little help (KOKO, anyone?). You would be left with a feeling
that
> you were looking at a constructed word-game that might (or might not) be
> some form of repetitive language.
>
> Here's where I suspect we are with the VMS - all our stats are at the
> "b.o.b.u.d.o.d.o.c.o.f.o" context, but until such time as we can read it
as
> "bo.bu.do.do.co.fo", we'll remain stuck.
>
> Note that I don't think this alone will be sufficient for us to read the
> VMS - but it should be a gigantic leap forward in the right direction. I
> predict there will be further levels of word-game to trip us up along the
> way, our author is far too smart to make life easy for us!
>
> Cheers, .....Nick Pelling.....
>
> PS: you might also consider the following: the choice of letters in the
> VMS' alphabet indicates that the author was familiar with multiple
European
> languages, shorthand, embellished letters (probably from reading legal
> documents?), and possibly even Cistercian numbering systems (as described
> in David A. King's "The Cipher of the Monks"). His intention may have been
> to throw as many red herrings in the air as possible - but they also
signal
> his influences.
>
> However, if he had designed a very much more geometric alphabet (say,
> consisting purely of boxes), we would have had next to nothing to go on.
> It's possible, then, that his explicit intention was indeed for this to be
> treated as a word-game / word-puzzle and decoded! :-)
>

A word game in peotry? Perhaps?

Jeff


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