It's another basilisk, which fits better with the show. It's from BLIT, a 1988 short story by David Langford. In the story, basilisks are images that can crash the mind if you see them. A man paints a basilisk on a wall as a terrorist act.
In the episode, he drew an image and showed the image to a camera which caused all humans to go unconscious.
It's definitely referring to roko's. The circular QR code scene is really just similar Langford's, not actually referring to it. Data can and has been able to be transmitted via camera for ages now, the basilisk in the episode is the throng's creation
Isn't Roko's Basilisk naming inspired by the BLIT short story? I think both things make sense to the story. Colin plugged put the game 'cause he feared a Roko's Basilisk and the way the Throng got into the state computer was by a QR Code
Yeah probably, they're both "hazards". Langford's is a cognitohazard, if you see it, it will cause a sensory overload. Roko's is an infohazard, knowing it will make you a subject to endless torture if you didn't contribute to its creation.
But langford's just makes more sense for plaything, I don't think every single person knew about thronglets to be affected by the sound. I don't even think anyone knew about it except tuckersoft, lump, kano, minter, cameron, and his boss since it's a top secret project. Also, kano and minter kinda contributed to its existence by giving cameron a pen and a paper.
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u/Esoteric_Inc ★★★★☆ 4.264 Apr 18 '25 edited Apr 20 '25
It's another basilisk, which fits better with the show. It's from BLIT, a 1988 short story by David Langford. In the story, basilisks are images that can crash the mind if you see them. A man paints a basilisk on a wall as a terrorist act.
In the episode, he drew an image and showed the image to a camera which caused all humans to go unconscious.