This is a piece I wrote back in 2023, but didn’t manage to get published before the war broke out and put all our projects on hold. In compliance with the 2025 Disinformation Law of the International Internet Court, I hereby attest that I have run the text through a Court-approved truth-portal, which gave it the score of “
Mar 13, 2023·edited Mar 13, 2023Liked by Justin Smith-Ruiu
Before I even reached the paragraph in which you correctly anticipate that your readers will be checking your sources and claims out on the internet, I had already searched for and found in my University's library the Friedmans' article in the Philological Quarterly of 1959. I was so delighted to find that that both the article and the all-caps footnote are real that I laughed out loud. It's perhaps worth noting that it's the Friedmans themselves who announce that the footnote is an anagram to be solved by the reader to disclose their real view of the Voynich Manuscript.
I must admit to getting swept into the fantastical flights of Baconian Shakespearology for a period -hey, it is at the very least, great entertainment... But I give all credit to William and Elizabeth Friedman for bringing me back down to Earth!
Can I add my reaction to the Wired piece? I read it a few days ago as it was cross posted on 3QD. I thought “well, classic JEHS.” Then I looked up how to get some of those mushrooms.
I fear reading this will do something to me. I don’t expect that to happen right away. Probably it will happen slowly, over time. Maybe this is how Adam Curtis got that way. But it’s too late! I read it, and will probably re-read it again a bit later. Who know how many times I will read this and what the end result will be but I don’t expect it to be good.
Before I even reached the paragraph in which you correctly anticipate that your readers will be checking your sources and claims out on the internet, I had already searched for and found in my University's library the Friedmans' article in the Philological Quarterly of 1959. I was so delighted to find that that both the article and the all-caps footnote are real that I laughed out loud. It's perhaps worth noting that it's the Friedmans themselves who announce that the footnote is an anagram to be solved by the reader to disclose their real view of the Voynich Manuscript.
Brilliant as usual. I eagerly await more of your musings on the Voynich Manuscript.
I must admit to getting swept into the fantastical flights of Baconian Shakespearology for a period -hey, it is at the very least, great entertainment... But I give all credit to William and Elizabeth Friedman for bringing me back down to Earth!
Can I add my reaction to the Wired piece? I read it a few days ago as it was cross posted on 3QD. I thought “well, classic JEHS.” Then I looked up how to get some of those mushrooms.
Far out 😎
Really enjoy your work. You might be interested in this discussion of your Wired piece - about 2/3 of the way down the article: https://castaliajournal.substack.com/p/curator-5eb
And maybe interested in the Substack in general!
TOO MANY COINCIDENCES.
I fear reading this will do something to me. I don’t expect that to happen right away. Probably it will happen slowly, over time. Maybe this is how Adam Curtis got that way. But it’s too late! I read it, and will probably re-read it again a bit later. Who know how many times I will read this and what the end result will be but I don’t expect it to be good.