(2004-09-14) Rugg Verifier Approach

Gordon Rugg applied his Verifier Approach to conclude that the Voynich Manuscript is a hoax. Pattern Matching, Decision Theory, elicitation, etc. (Thinking Tools) - The verifier method boils down to seven steps: 1) amass knowledge of a discipline through interviews and reading; 2) determine whether critical expertise has yet to be applied in the field; 3) look for bias and mistakenly held assumptions in the research; 4) analyze jargon to uncover differing definitions of key terms; 5) check for classic mistakes using human-error tools; 6) follow the errors as they ripple through underlying assumptions; 7) suggest new avenues for research that emerge from steps one through six... Rugg doesn't expect to find evidence of pattern-matching in a printed document, but there are always clues. "You look at the language," he explains. "Sometimes you'll see areas where the authors write, "This result strongly resembles something else." That's an opportunity to investigate more closely." Such a phrase is usually built on mountains of assumptions, which an author presumes (sometimes erroneously) that all potential readers understand.