jmd said:
Perhaps part of the overall problem is that the title of this section is termed 'Historical Research', whereas there is in fact very little actual historical research
per se herein presented, but rather occasional snippets of research, combined with rather broader sweeping reflections and views already established by many of us (for example, on my part, the likely influence of Cathedral carvings on Tarot imagery - a position I have never clearly articulated nor investigated sufficiently from a more precise historical research perspective).
If the
Victoria Research Web can put out a guideline as clearly as it does, it is of course also a reminder to us that research proper indeed takes place very much outside these boards.
This should not prevent us, however, from posting research directions, and the delights of finds.
Well, jmd, it's your evaluation and not mine. I respect your evaluation as I respect the evaluation of anybody else. But ...
As far playing cards are concerned, it seems you are not aware, what blunders are running around. Actually what really exist ... is the fiction of a functioning playing card research. Actually there are single persons, who try to form some organised work, but if their result is really that what would be possible, if it would be really organised and functioning, that's definitely a second question.
There is, as far I can perceive it, till ca. 1980 nothing better than that was Dummett wrote in Game of Tarot. Also Kaplan's works, although critizied occasionally, was not bad at least in the function to inform a greater public.
Well, this sort of "science" worked well and was the "best" till the time of internet. Of course early internet had its wild phases and of course a lot of nonsense was generated, but each media writes its own history, learns from its faults and refines. This was not different, when book printing took a humble start. The new art and it's possibilities was critizised and degraded by the lovers of the old ways, which missed their worthful manuscripts, handcoloured and personally written. History is, it was the begin of something which became the greatest possible revolution ... some thinking historians declared Johannes Gensfleisch called Gutenberg for the man of the millenium, nit without reasons.
Well, a humble man who had his experiences with the world, debts and a poor living, struggling to survive. Which tells the story of the difficulties of the start of this medium. But it did happen ...
And this game repeats ... right know. A lot of computer-idiots didn't realize that. And the whole situation mirrors in this small little forum.
There are still a lot of people, who can't read at the computer. If they meet a longer text, they've to print it out. The system of their senses hasn't adapted the new form of communication. But others can ... and cause the medium offers so much possibilities, thatr they increase their adapting capabilities of information.
Back to the "playing card research realities" ... these are mainly old men, sitting somewhere in London, with an infrastructure of a magazine with perhaps 500, perhaps 1000 readers, other old men.
We know, that computer adaption is a matter of the generations. Old men do that not so quick as younger. So ... think about that, what I've said above, and you realize something.
A day has 24 hours, for everybody. In the 70, 80 years of life you can adapt some information, but not all. And what you can adapt, depends on the media, that you use, how efective it is for this adapting process. Go in a library and perceive, how slow it is usually. For the actual research situation of playing card research it's an essential necessity
a. to collect the won data of the past
b. to place this in the general history results of other research fields
Point a. was relatively good done by Dummett and his friends.
For point b. ... that was complicated in their time and it is far better researchable nowadays with the new media. True: Internet has its weaknesses. But to mirror playing card notes in general 15th century you often don't need special knowledge, but general knowledge of 15th century reality. You must know many fields, not necessarily specific topics. You've for instance to identify specific persons, which appear in the story.
Dummett in his time went to the relevant dictionary, in his library, where he had to go to, too, and he was not free to use it all the time, or he had to take the book at home, and all that took time, and the life has only 70, 80 years.
And btw. Dummett had a definite job, that was professor of logic, and in this job he was really good, and that he did need intellectual time, too, for.
So, I would suggest, instead of feeding the fiction, you come back to reality. Can you name an internet forum with a Tarot history forum, which has in your opinion some slight quality? Can you use the search engine to identify specific key words of Tarot research in the system? What do you think, what you will find out?
Come on, research takes place at the bottom of reality, it are not always "great experiences", often enough its logical, that you're a little stupid as researcher in various fields, it's a natural condition to understand that. So a certain part of the job is to ask stupid questions, and to be flexible in different roles.
Don't you think, that others "admired" researchers doesn't have similar trivial problems? Life is always, that you've to stand with your feet on the ground. Occasionally you can use jumbo-jets, but doing it always is too expensive.
), as the idea that the web would be principally for the cliched "young adopters" turned out to be quite mistaken. Many companies lost an opportunity by not realising, until much too late, that in fact many older people took to the web like the proverbial ducks to water (we're talking older people who had access of course - as ever, one has to point out that most people in the world still have no computer access, whatever their age) . If you want to see a lot more discussion of this I would suggest you begin by looking to somewhere like the Doors of Perception conferences that John Thackara runs - John has for many years been at the forefront of looking at some of the more surprising and interesting social and creative effects of interactive media developments. 
