The Secret of the Proverb
An Igbo story about modern technology and ancient wisdom.
"Papa, I don’t understand. My friend Olisa sent me a message but it just looks like this..."
This is Adanna's puzzle. A message that looks like nonsense. Her father, Papa Emeka, sees something different: a connection to the wisdom of their ancestors. This is where our story of encryption begins.
Plain Text: The Open Message
Papa Emeka begins with a simple object: his wooden staff. It is what it appears to be—an open, readable message with nothing hidden.
"You see this staff? It is a piece of wood. A simple object. Anyone can see it. This is like a normal message you can read. We call it **plain text**."
Encryption: The Proverb's Secret
But what if you want to hide a message in plain sight? Our ancestors used proverbs. To an outsider, it's just a saying. To those who understand, it's a secret code.
Click to reveal the hidden meaning.
"The lizard that falls from a high iroko tree praises itself if no one else does."
The Secret Meaning: This is a warning—you must acknowledge your own hard work, because no one else may do it for you. The simple words mask a deep message. This process of turning a plain message into a secret one is **encryption**.
Ciphertext: The Jumbled Message
Olisa's message is like the proverb before you know its meaning. It’s an unreadable, jumbled message. In the digital world, we call this **ciphertext**.
The Key: Nsibidi Wisdom
How do you unlock the secret? You need a key. For our ancestors, the key was the knowledge of Nsibidi, an ancient Igbo writing system.
Click to see the key in action.
To an outsider, these are just shapes. But to one who knows, they tell a story of marriage or love, and of war or conflict. The knowledge of what these shapes mean is the **key**.
Decryption: Reading the Secret Story
Your phone, like someone who understands Nsibidi, has the key Olisa used. It uses this key to change the unreadable ciphertext back into plain words you can understand. This is **decryption**.
Ciphertext: 9a2b7c...
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Using the 'Key'
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Plain Text: "Hello Adanna!"
The Wisdom of Our Elders
"Nne m, the world is always changing. The way we tell our secrets may change, but the reason we have them will always remain. It is a part of who we are. Just as our people protected their proverbs and stories, you must protect your own special keys."
- Papa Emeka
The Secret Language of Locks!
Here's an example of an embedded webpage:
More content on my page...
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