5 ms·

Thanks for introducing me to the concept! Just read the short story I assume you are referring to: https://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/blit.htm https://www.i

Thanks for introducing me to the concept! Just read the short story I assume you are referring to: https://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/blit.htm https://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/blit.htm

Karellen 2y ago
Looks like it, according to Wikipedia: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Langford%27s_basilisk https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Langford%27s_basilisk Just read the story, thought it was very reminiscent of one of the plot points in Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash (1992) - until I noticed the publication date of 1988, 4 years earlier!
- evanjrowley 2y ago
  You'll also find a similar concept throughout David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest (1996).
  - hobs 2y ago
    Charles Stross who for some reason posted on usenet about it in the wikipedia article uses a form of this to great effect in several books in The Laundry Files
    - shagie 2y ago
      Accelerando : https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/accelerando/accelerando.html https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/acceler... Not everything is sweetness and light in the era of mature nanotechnology. Widespread intelligence amplification doesn't lead to widespread rational behavior. New religions and mystery cults explode across the planet; much of the Net is unusable, flattened by successive semiotic jihads. India and Pakistan have held their long-awaited nuclear war: external intervention by US and EU nanosats prevented most of the IRBMs from getting through, but the subsequent spate of network raids and Basilisk attacks cause havoc. Luckily, infowar turns out to be more survivable than nuclear war – especially once it is discovered that a simple anti-aliasing filter stops nine out of ten neural-wetware-crashing Langford fractals from causing anything worse than a mild headache.
      - Karellen 2y ago
        (2005)
rozab 2y ago
I hadn't heard of this one before, it's also similar to the crucifix glitch in Peter Watts' Blindsight
- haccount 2y ago
  Having read both Blindsight and Echopraxia I have to say the most impressive neurological takeaway from the books was the ability of my own brain to suspend critical thinking for long enough to enjoy the books. In retrospect the core concept can be paraphrased as: Self-awareness and consciousness in pigs is the only thing that prevents them from flapping their trotters fast enough to fly(to the moon).
  - jayGlow 2y ago
    I'm not getting your point? the book had some out there ideas but the core concept of consciousness not being necessary for intelligence seemed fairly reasonable.
- ToDougie 2y ago
  Fantastic book. Really made me think in some new ways.
shagie 2y ago
https://www.nature.com/articles/44964 https://www.nature.com/articles/44964 is also a fun read on the BLIT. I also recommend Different Kinds of Darkness. https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/different-kinds-of-darkness/ https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/different-kinds-o...

Thanks for introducing me to the concept! Just read the short story I assume you are referring to: https://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/blit.htm https://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/blit.htm

Karellen 2y ago

Looks like it, according to Wikipedia: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Langford%27s_basilisk https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Langford%27s_basilisk Just read the story, thought it was very reminiscent of one of the plot points in Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash (1992) - until I noticed the publication date of 1988, 4 years earlier!

evanjrowley 2y ago
You'll also find a similar concept throughout David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest (1996).
- hobs 2y ago
  Charles Stross who for some reason posted on usenet about it in the wikipedia article uses a form of this to great effect in several books in The Laundry Files
  - shagie 2y ago
    Accelerando : https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/accelerando/accelerando.html https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/acceler... Not everything is sweetness and light in the era of mature nanotechnology. Widespread intelligence amplification doesn't lead to widespread rational behavior. New religions and mystery cults explode across the planet; much of the Net is unusable, flattened by successive semiotic jihads. India and Pakistan have held their long-awaited nuclear war: external intervention by US and EU nanosats prevented most of the IRBMs from getting through, but the subsequent spate of network raids and Basilisk attacks cause havoc. Luckily, infowar turns out to be more survivable than nuclear war – especially once it is discovered that a simple anti-aliasing filter stops nine out of ten neural-wetware-crashing Langford fractals from causing anything worse than a mild headache.
    - Karellen 2y ago
      (2005)

rozab 2y ago

I hadn't heard of this one before, it's also similar to the crucifix glitch in Peter Watts' Blindsight

haccount 2y ago
Having read both Blindsight and Echopraxia I have to say the most impressive neurological takeaway from the books was the ability of my own brain to suspend critical thinking for long enough to enjoy the books. In retrospect the core concept can be paraphrased as: Self-awareness and consciousness in pigs is the only thing that prevents them from flapping their trotters fast enough to fly(to the moon).
- jayGlow 2y ago
  I'm not getting your point? the book had some out there ideas but the core concept of consciousness not being necessary for intelligence seemed fairly reasonable.
ToDougie 2y ago
Fantastic book. Really made me think in some new ways.

shagie 2y ago

https://www.nature.com/articles/44964 https://www.nature.com/articles/44964 is also a fun read on the BLIT. I also recommend Different Kinds of Darkness. https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/different-kinds-of-darkness/ https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/different-kinds-o...