The Most Dangerous Pieces of Information - Cognitohazards

Music used:

[alexlowe]

This is quite an interesting idea, and I got nerd sniped thinking about it. I didn't realize I had written an essay until it was done, so here it is.

I think the ideas presented here are interesting, and even fun to speculate on, but the ideas ultimately depend on a deeply flawed understanding of how our universe and human psychology work. Depending on the definition of "cognitohazard", I believe they're strictly impossible, or so common that we just call it part of our human experience and we have multiple words that better describe different types.

Many of the referenced ideas depend on things that can't exist within our universe, like much of the SCP wiki, thought police, or time traveling super AI. Backwards time travel is impossible. It's easy to imagine a cognitohazard if you can just imagine a fictional world where impossible things are possible. Constantly scanning every person's brain for their internal thoughts might not seem impossible at first glance, but it comes with practical unsolvable problems. I routinely help businesses figure out if IT solutions are possible, and thought police is impossible for technical reasons and because it's a badly designed toy solution that wouldn't be able to function in the complexities of the real world. Reading people's thoughts in real time would require so much energy and computational power that it's *effectively* impossible to do in real time in our universe, even at the limits of theoretical physics. Even then, deciding what thoughts are "bad" is computationally difficult enough (even for other humans) that you'd basically need a decision making system with enough power and complexity that it borders on a second brain, just to police the first brain in real-time. Notice, that you haven't actually policed everyone's thoughts, since you can't police the police. You can exert limited control on a small population when you have overwhelming resources. However, the ability to police an entire population requires god-like powers that do things like the ability to create energy from nothing or the ability to transmit/receive information without spending energy. Although interesting, god-like powers completely changes the meaning of the discussion into something unrelated from cognitohazards.

Assuming no divine beings are involved, I think the definition of "cognitohazard" discussed in the video must include a few more details than just "an idea that can hurt people just by being known". If that's the only definition, then finding out you've been cheated on fits that description, and is sadly common. It seems a cognitohazard implicitly includes components of "universal" and "permanent" damage or pain. As you noted, any of the theoretically possible examples are either not universal, not permanent, or not both. This is because of human psychology, and how we understand and process ideas and emotions, and as long as we're still human, I don't think that will change.

On a quick tangent, I find it interesting that all of the impossible examples aren't actually ideas. The rogue AI isn't an idea, it's an external actor who threatens you. The pain isn't from the idea, it's from the torture. In the thought police example, it's not the thought that actually causes you harm, but the people who read your thoughts and hurt you based on what you think about. If you allow the definition to include other people hurting you for having a thought, you can imagine a guy who shoots anyone who loses the game. Horrible, yes. Possible? Also yes. However, it's clear from that thought experiment that the blame for the damage falls on the person who hurts others, not on the person who has the thought, and certainly not on the specific idea. Ironically, hurting people for their ideas is something that already happens, regardless of the impossibility of determining what people are thinking. Authoritarian regimes will murder people at the suggestion that they *might* have thought something, which is horrifying but very real. However, that still leaves the definition of a cognitohazard. It's not the idea you're in trouble for, but the expression of that idea. If you keep it a secret, you don't get hurt. Which is probably why so many people lie so often.

Once you move to purely thoughts with no external forces, you enter the world of internal human psychology and anatomy. If you're only dealing with thoughts, you can only inflict emotional pain. Psychology shows that both emotional pain and physical pain happen in the same regions in our brains: the prefrontal cortex and cingulate cortex. One could argue that emotional and physical pain are essentially the same. However, emotional pain is still emotional, and different than physical pain. Emotional pain follows the patterns that the rest of our emotions do. Emotions equilibrate. You can't be sad forever. You can't be happy forever. The emotions from the best and worst day of your life will eventually fade and dull with time. That's why there can't exist a permanent cognitohazard. Information can only cause emotional pain, and people's emotions eventually normalize back to a baseline that's mostly affected by their personality and mental outlook. As long as we're dealing with humans, the "permanent" side of cognitohazards is impossible, due to how we process emotions. Then, there's the "universal" part, which is defeated by the fact that people respond differently to the same situations.

If a cognitohazard can't be permanent, and it can't be universal, then I'd argue they don't exist. The only thing that leaves is temporary thoughts that sometimes cause negative emotions. Those are so common that it's just part of the human experience. Spoilers are a great example of that, but there are so many ideas or pieces of information that can cause pain. Being lied to, cheated on, getting fired, waiting in line, and having buyer's remorse are all things that take place almost exclusively inside your head, and cause primarily emotional pain. Some are ideas, some are information told to us, and others are painful conclusions we arrive at with the right information. Once you expand the definition of "cognitohazards" that wide, it basically loses all meaning. You could try to keep the definition more narrow, but I believe it's impossible to get people to agree on a definition of something that's a personal experience that's impossible to have.

If you're looking for something related, it's relatively easy to cause someone emotional pain with just some simple words. You could take your friends to a new restaurant, and once they start eating, tell them about all the food safety violations you've seen, and how you've seen roaches crawling on people's food in some kitchens. I guarantee that simple fact will cause them enough emotional pain that you'll be able to see it on their face. However, if you believe that knowledge and ideas can cause serious pain, doing that is morally the same as stabbing your friends with a knife. Definitely a jerk move, even if was an accident. I think that philosophy is why I'm careful about the things I say to friends. I'm aware that what I say has an effect on others, which obligates me to think about my words carefully. Not quite the spirit of a cognitohazard, but saying dumb things can definitely be damaging.

[Spyglass_]

Video: you probably shouldn’t watch this video.

1.6 million people:

[yeetular]

Overthinking can probably be considered an info hazard.

[GamingWithMasrurElahi]

About getting hurt, I have a quote from Marcus Aurelius that has helped me a lot:
"You don't have to turn this into something. It doesn't have to upset you."
This helped me through many things.

[ABHEEeeee]

You underestimate my ability to forget the info after 0.1 second lol

[AleksWorkshop]

The silliest of us who refuse going down random information rabbitholes are ones who sleep the best

[MyPhobo]

I watched this in incognito mode so I am safe

[NoriKassidy]

I've been exposed to the "you are now ___ manually" so much I'm essentially immune to it.

[freyathedragon]

Me: “I cannot tear my thumb ligament by doing this simple action”
Also Me: *very nearly hurts myself*

[begula]

"You are now thinking manually."

[logicerrormusic]

Being alive, the most prominent cognitohazard of them all.

[cruxial]

TW: Death
One thing I truly think would be a cognitohazard is knowing what happens after death, especially if the answer is nothing. It obviously depends on the person, but I can definitely see how it would mess up alot of people.

[OwenRoberton]

For anyone legitimately worried about Roko's Basilisk, let me introduce you to a 100% get out of jail free card. Reverse Roko's Basilisk.

[joebloggs]

One cognitohazard is when someone you love says something so mean to you that it traumatizes you, sometimes for life.

[tableprinterdoor]

*phineas hears about Roku’s Basilisk*

‘Ferb, I know what we’re doing today.’

[Zeinsanemedic]

It comforts me to know that none of this will be harmful to me because ill just forget

The one time memory loss is a good thing

[havenp]

OCD makes this whole concept even more of a nightmare. When your mind can latch onto any thought or fear, there are a lot of things it’s better not to be aware of.
For example, as a child I experienced occasional minor sleep paralysis. It didn’t bother me too much but I was curious about it, so I did some research. I found out about the possible nightmarish hallucinations, and of course, I was terrified it would happen to me. The next time I had sleep paralysis, of course, it happened. The idea was planted in my mind. I was so anxious about them that they started happening more and more, to the point where I developed insomnia that lasted for years.

[theoshaviolation]

How dare you make me lose the game.
Also, the "you are breathing manually" is one that really grinds my gears.

[even]

Thumbnail: " you shouldn't probably watch this video "
Me: proceeds to watch the video

[poisonousdynasty]

You can die if you overthink, and you can die if you stand still too long while trying to believe you're dead