A page from the Voynich Manuscript

A page from the Voynich Manuscript

Apparently, almost 400 years ago a manuscript came into existence that became known as the Voynich Manuscript.  The MS is written in an unknown language by an unknown author in an unknown place.  This book is a miniature encyclopedia that has baffled decipherers, cryptographers, and archaeologists for centuries.  Even the best guesses at its true meaning and value have shortcomings that cause them to be instantly cast away.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript

There are nuances about the writing of the document that indicate that it is in fact a language, not a hoax, and probably contains useful information.  There are sections about plants, stars, and other scientific topics.

Ironically, in my conjecture, I do not believe this document to be a work of science or mathematics at all, but instead a definitive guide to living off the land.  That’s right, this is the world’s first documented nerd/hippy.  The information present is information about food, medicine, navigation, and well-being, a Constitution by which the author drew up in his preparation of leaving society.  The document is deliberately written in a unique language that escapes the bounds of society, and is unfortunately within itself schizophrenic.

I presume this guide is a complete work of fiction, incorporating ideas in combinations that have not been previously explored.  This work is the quintessential literary piece as a critique against society as rebellious to language, the art of the renaissance, industrious city living, and embracing the natural earth, as she is an infinitely complex organism herself.

While authors struggle to write their definitive work and anticipate their deepest feelings to be unraveled through language and nuance, the Voynich Manuscript has instead made a work with indecipherable language that communicates directly with its observer, albeit highly dependent on illustration.

The existence of this work remaining a mystery for this many years only strengthens its value.  When we fail to understand something it is frequent that we pose ourselves as looking for an answer to a question before us, instead of regarding what lies before us as an answer that needs a question.  What manuscript could possibly need existence that contains information on plants, the cosmos, and biology.  Simple, a vegan determined to live solely off the land in harmony with nature, and worried about getting lost.

Douglas Adams proposed this principle in his Hitchhiker series in a humorous manner.  A super computer was created for the sole purpose of calculating the ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything.  After completion, the computer (Deep Thought) began to process its only task.  Eons later it arrived at a solution, only to have the people baffled by its meaninglessness.   In vain, and scramble, they began to erect a computer that would calculate a question of life the universe and everything that would arrive at the conclusion “42.”