4 ms·
Cool fact. All of this writing is in mirror image reverse writing so that no one in contemporary times could read his notebooks. He taught himself how to write
by burtonator 7y ago
Cool fact. All of this writing is in mirror image reverse writing so that no one in contemporary times could read his notebooks.
He taught himself how to write in mirror image.
- klyrs 7y agoThis always baffles me. It's significantly less secure than rot13 (similar in its idempotence) and it seems to me that any curious mind would identify the letter shapes, notice that they're backwards, and soon work it out. Was this actually a mystery, or was it merely a foil that would prevent comprehension if somebody only got a glimpse?
- whenchamenia 7y agoI suspect the latter, but most people take a while to puzzle it out. I got good at reading upside down for some reason, and the skill still rewards me on occasion.
- klyrs 7y agoWhen I was in high school, I taught myself to write mirrored, and tortured (which, in retrospect, was kinda flirting with...) an english teacher. The teacher was annoyed/impressed/tolerant, and their approach was to read my papers in the bathroom with the mirror. They were dismayed when I simply held the paper up to the ceiling light. To this day, I'm occasionally confounded by doors that have "HSUP" written on clear glass -- it's actually a "PULL" but I read the "PUSH" and smack. Other than that, I'm happy to have the skill. :P
- atom-morgan 7y agoBased on the biography I'm currently reading, he didn't do this to secure his notes which would make sense considering how smart he was in every other way. It's because he was left handed and wanted to write right to left.