In July 2010, someone posted a thought experiment on a philosophy forum.

It was called Rokos Basilisk.

Within hours, people reported nightmares.

Some had panic attacks.

At least one person had a full nervous breakdown.

The forum's founder was so disturbed, he deleted the post and banned all discussion of it.

This just made things worse. This philosophical virus spread to all corners of the internet.

So did the nightmares, the panic, and the nervous breakdowns.

But here's the twist. As long as you don't learn about it, you're safe.

But don't bother clicking away. Now that you know about Rok learn about it, you're safe. But don't bother clicking away.

Now that you know about Rokos Basilisk, you're already doomed.

Less wrong was a community obsessed with thinking correctly.

It was founded in 2009 by AI researcher Elizer Yudkowski for programmers, mathematicians, and physicists.

A forum where everybody thinks is smarter than everyone else.

So basically, Reddit.

On July 23rd, 2010, a username Roco posted something that almost destroyed the community.

The full title was Solutions to the Altruist Burden, the Quantum Billionaire Trick.

Now, buried inside that boring title was a mind puzzle that gave people nightmares.

Roco described a future artificial superintelligence.

This AI is benevolent.

It wants to cure diseases and end human suffering.

But the AI realizes that every day it doesn't exist, people die who could have been saved.

...