Rationalist circles revisit Roko's Basilisk: 'acausality' likened to demon pacts
foomagemindset · x · 2026-10-22
A thread of AI-community chatter revisits Roko's Basilisk and infohazards. Jessicata says she doesn't believe in true infohazards but sees people spiral by fixating on basilisks without analyzing them, sometimes messaging her to 'disprove' them. A quoted blog excerpt describes someone who claimed to suffer from basilisks yet refused to share details even with CFAR staff. The thread links this 'basilisk psychology' to rationalists' notion of acausality — a multiverse-themed analogue of making pacts with demons, with a history in misanthropic occult circles.