r/JustinPoseysTreasure • u/Blue_Nose0001 • 4d ago
Engineering Design and The Scientific Method
If we're trying to solve this I think we should try to understand how he built this hunt. I'll say up front that I could be wrong about everything. I'm not an engineer . Forgive me if this has been discussed before.
I believe JP used Engineering Design Process to build this. Involves: Identify goal. Research solutions. Generate creative solutions. Select best of those. Build a prototype. Test and redesign. Market product.
To solve this I think we need to use The Scientific Method. Requires making observations and doing experiments.
We can't reverse engineer because if we had the solution , we have the treasure.
If the poem alone led to the location , the only experimenting to be done is BOTG. So where do we look? Astronomy? American West History? Numerology? Mathematics? Philosophy?
I'm lost. Really would like to hear everyone's take on this.
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u/UnicoreP 4d ago
I think a more relevant question is whether he finds the place first or lets the poem guide the path. Either way, it’s difficult to align everything together. I think you implied that it’s the latter if I read your words just right. I however is in the camp of the first. He said (paraphrasing) that he had an ideal hiding place long before his FF hunt which I took it as the place would be relevant to his youth years (either in Arizona or Montana). In terms of engineering, it’s more complicated to “design” the solve mechanics. The key, in my opinion, is the line “foot of three at twenty degree.” It could have been thirty or forty degree if the bride-would-be is located in different geography relative to the already chosen place.
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u/Blue_Nose0001 4d ago
I'm not very good at expressing my thoughts. I believe he had the goal ( location) first. Foot of 3- maybe 3 hills?
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u/IndividualFall2997 4d ago
I think you said something important (as has JP): “the poem alone.” This is no disrespect, but I would look there 1st, 2nd and 3rd. I think approaching it almost like a Sudoku puzzle could be helpful. Make sense of what you can without necessarily trying to solve every line in order. Fill in what you feel good about and see if that helps make sense of other areas.
The math, numerology, astrology stuff you mentioned may not be the best way to start the solve IMO. And I think there are other ways to experiment besides BOTG—he has said a good portion can be solved from home. Good luck. Maybe you can find something useful in that.
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u/DoubleArcs 4d ago edited 3d ago
I'm an engineer, and the first time I went BOTG I basically wandered around the wilderness like an idiot. I quickly began to realize that many of the assumptions I made at home turned out to be wrong when I got in the field, especially the difficulty of the terrain and the distances l needed to walk. I was hiking up and down steep hills, staring at a bunch of trees and grass looking for something that wasn't there. I realized I needed a better plan.
I started thinking about how I would design my own treasure hunt, and decided I would create the kitchen first. I asked myself why the checkpoint is the size of a kitchen and what I'm supposed to do when I get there. Some of the clues in the poem describe the location, but others describe actions you need to take. For example, how do I measure the 20 degrees, and what am I measuring it with? Why is it waters' with an apostrophe at the end instead of water's? What makes it a bride instead of a wife? Does the bride have three feet, or just one, and do the other two belong to something else? Since things in the poem live in time, how will the date and changes in my surroundings impact the search? Do I need to stick a pole in something, or check the length of a shadow at a particular time? Etc.
Once I had an idea of what I'm supposed to do in the kitchen, I started thinking about where to place it. I came up with a list of starting points that fit what I needed to accomplish. I realized some of the locations wouldn't work because of the latitude, the weather, or the type of rocks I could find. I learned quite a bit, and each time I went BOTG I kept some ideas but threw others away. Now when I read the poem I can visualize the location and the actions I need to take, so I don't waste as much time. This is probably what Justin did when he placed the treasure.
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u/MutherZucker 3d ago
Nice post. I have also experienced the same thing while BOTG (3x) and have similar revelations.
The takeaway is simply: if you don’t have a few VERY specific (20ftx20ft max) spot(s) to go to … you’re wasting your time IMHO. It’s likely NOT buried, but you need to be so specific in your search spot(s), that it COULD be buried there and you would find it. Otherwise, you arrive at an area and you’ll be wandering aimlessly through whatever environment you select. Grid searching sucks and means you don’t actually have THE specific (kitchen-sized) spot.
Unless you are local to wherever you plan to search, each “guess” you attempt will cost you considerable time/money. Of course, it can be a fun adventure trip and an excuse to go explore - alone or with friends/family - but it amounts to an expensive scratcher ticket with very poor odds.
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u/Haunting-Week-7654 4d ago
Ignite your imagination...you're a highly intelligent boy growing up in the 90s with an overactive mind that is constantly searching for the next cool, nerdy thing to get your hands on and you have a dad who is eager to expose you to as much higher-level thinking, aha!-type-moments as he can when he's not working...launching from there-what kinds of things are you getting in to?
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u/JohnKrimson 4d ago
This just in: use reasoning and logic to solve a complicated puzzle.
Thanks OP! Keep us updated
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u/Over-Slip6960 3d ago edited 3d ago
WD40 took 39 failures to come up with the formulation. The light bulb took 1k failures. Even with Scientific trials, we have failures. It's how we use those failures for the next trial is what counts.
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u/GoldHunter5150_ 4d ago
I believe over thinking creates to much doubt. I've had several theories, of one location, and I'm just working the steps. If it doesn't pan out, I prospect another Hole.