Sometimes I have to drop apparent non-sequiturs to prime readers for a topic, and the post about Tenet is one such topic. This is technically part of the series on money but it’s more a kind of primer to a totally non magical subject which doubtless came to some peoples mind’s at the moment I mentioned the yawning abyss of a cashless society. This subject is dangerous to mention online however, and I wanted to explain why that is, in a way that magicians might find helpful.
Tenet is a nice squishy example of what I call a Confounding Sociological Infohazard. Lets break that term down.
An infohazard is a science fiction concept similar to that of harmful sensation, where a sight or sound can somehow permanently harm you; not in the sense that a really bright light can blind you, more like the idea of a work of art so bizarre that can make you go insane, a song so sad it makes you walk into the ocean and drown, or a joke so funny that you instantly laugh yourself to death. An infohazard is like this except that it is a mere idea, knowledge you can’t unlearn, often framed as a fact which upends your entire worldview into a bleak existential dread from which you can never return.
A confounding infohazard is my term for what XKCD calls nerd sniping, the art of posing a question with no obvious answer but which feels like there should be a simple and elegant solution. Upon learning of the question a certain type of person will immediately spiral into a obsessive compulsion to answer it.
A confounding sociological infohazard then is a question which doesn’t affect individuals in this way, but will cause an argument when discussed, descending into visceral hatred and even eugenic ideation for those involved. As you might imagine, the internet is allowing confounding sociological infohazards to spread and mutate at a rate never previously known, as what would have once caused mild cursing across a dinner table for a single evening gets spun out into a global 24/7 screaming match, replete with slurs, factionalism, and maybe even profiteering.
But how does this work? To explain it, I need to give a few examples.
Content warning: This post contain 4 such info hazards, with increasing danger levels, which I am going to hopefully explain in enough detail that you will feel satisfied and not have to discuss them any further… but I cannot guarantee this.
Proceed with caution.
Continue reading “Cryptonumismatismor Confounding Sociological Infohazards”