BLIT

by David Langford

Short story published online via infinity plus. Also included in:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Horror, Fiction, Speculative Fiction

1 pages, Unknown Binding

About the author

British science-fiction author, editor and critic. He publishes the newsletter Ansible.

Reviews

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Curiosity about Elon Musk led me down an internet rabbit hole: his “rococo’s basilisk” joke meet-cute with Grimes to Roko’s Basilisk to this SF short story about an image that messes with your brain and kills you if you get a good look at it, and what happens when it gets into the hands of domestic British terrorists. Free online here: http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories...

Full review to come.

Content notes: a few F-bombs, and hateful thoughts about religious groups and gays by the terrorist.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nasty, gritty iteration of Langford's Poison Brain Meme idea. If I were you, I'd go straight over to the following one instead:

http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fic...
Won a 2000 Hugo award. Outstanding story, fully deserved its award.

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little piece of low science fiction featuring a racist punk trying to spread fatal memetic images. The storytelling felt natural and, even though it was interspersed with segments from memos, not at all infodump-y.

Read it here.

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting short story involving images that cannot be processed by people's minds, killing them. A 'punk' is assigned the task of putting up such images (with proper eyewear protection) in some areas to cause disruption, but it then goes wrong, causing him to be thrown in jail. As the law has not got around to legislating against putting up such images, he expects to be set free soon. But little does he know the insidious power of such images, even when seen distorted.

Memos inserted into the story offer explanations for how the images can 'crash' the human mind (like crashing a computer, unable to process data). Written many years ago, this is a concept that, hopefully, does not come true nowadays in the era of AI computer generated imagery.

[CH · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was reading about how Elon Musk and Grimes ended up together and it led me to this short story about an image that kills you if you look at it. Along the way, I also learned about Roco's Basilisk so it was nice knowing you guys 🙃

Overall, meh story in my opinion. Would make an interesting episode of Black Mirror but was only OK in written form.

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

You don't need to read BLIT to understand what a basilisk type of info-hazard is, but it doesn't cost anything to see the origins of the nomenclature by yourself. A neat read, with SCP Foundation vibes. Wouldn't be surprised to find this not-parrot among their archives for sure.

[Ashley Marilynne Wong · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled to care about the story as I was reading it. Personally I think it is a difficult read with too much jargon, problematic and confusing diction and pompousness. Therefore I did not enjoy it.

[Gudamor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short story takes an intriguing concept and provides a glimpse into its effect on the world- science fiction at its best.

[J E Supple · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short sci-fi story about an extremist terrorist who becomes the victim of his own plot. Set inside a prison cell, the main character, Robbo, is thinking back on how many streets he's tagged with "basilisks" and whether the clean up crews would even be able to get rhem all down. And how he's in the clear anyway since there's no law against having the stencils.

[spoiler]
"Basilisks" is a slang term in this universe for images that are a memetic hazard. The one hes been using was a fractal image that he would spray with the use of a stencil and "shatter goggles" known to him and his group as "the parrot" Robbo is reminiscing on his crimes when he thinks about the fractured image of the parrot and starts to realize his brain is putting the pieces together and forming "the parrot" on its own. It's beautiful poetic justice and is just a just and terrible end for a delightfully despicable character. [/spoiler]

Super short, dark, and wonderfully imaginative read. And Robbo is that perfect villanous character that you love to hate.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 1988, before Stephenson's Snow Crash, this short story has a very similar style, and central idea: a technological "basilisk". It seems likely that Stephenson borrowed heavily from this story, as many authors have.
http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories...

[Sara]

My black mind
red letters to kill
green eyes charchl the life
rain come with many answer
another word
half garden with nasty glass
kil or read
zero to come around
half died and half by life suronded
gun in my eyes
and my heart in my hand
holy water i want
to live prayer birds
and enjoying laying cat
that jasmen eyes
half open
half dreaming
half talking
idont want to kill my self

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

“SECRET * BASILISK
Distribution UK List B[iv] only
... so called because its outline, when processed for non-hazardous viewing, is generally considered to resemble that of the bird. A processed (anamorphically elongated) partial image appears in Appendix 3 of this report, page A3-ii. THE STATED PAGE MUST NOT BE VIEWED THROUGH ANY FORM OF CYLINDRICAL LENS. PROLONGED VIEWING IS STRONGLY DISRECOMMENDED. “

[Laura Boifort · Rating 4 out of 5]

creepy. just finished watching Plaything in the new season of Black Mirror. I wasn't sure if the "basilisk" was making reference to Langford's basilisk or Roko's. Either way, brings new meaning to the term "crashing out".

[Megan Halili · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn.

[Ninja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short-form fiction with interspersed notes on a theme similar to Snow Crash.

[Christabelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favourite stories ever!!

[Eule Hagar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Likely an inspiration for the later SCP-style stories found online. Definitely worthwhile

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

basilisks before they became trite and reddit-ified

[Timothy Lu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this book from a deep dive into Roko's basilisk (if you search it up, I'm sorry). Overall pretty solid but I can't help but feel some additional length and depth might do it some good.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea of the BLIT is recursive.

I find myself thinking about the concept all of the time. From the title, how the word makes me feel, to the story it self, to the idea that it implants, and how you see basilisks around you in your everyday life.

The obvious ones are adverts on jumbotrons, trying so hard to grab your attention in order to implant an idea in order to control you. Then there's products placed in shops after the checkouts, designed to get into your brain so that you have to go back to that shop at some point. These are basilisks designed my manipulative marketers in order to control people.

Everyone you meet is also their own collection of basilisks, whether they know it or not. We weild a terrible power to manipulate others, the question is if we will use it for destruction. The question may even be if it is possible to use it for good. To quote Pat the bunny, I came into the world as a loaded handgun, firing at random. I hit the people who were closest, not the people who deserved it. I'll try to aim more carefully, but it's too late for that I reckon. I came into the world a loaded handgun, I'll leave it empty or not at all.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

What's the difference between a brain and a computer?

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love this short story.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was short but amazing. If you like sci-fi and thought experiments I recommend giving this a try.