Roko's Basilisk
A 2010 LessWrong thought experiment whose moderation, public retellings and implicit-religion interpretation became part of its cultural history.
HMIF 1.1 record
This machine edition represents Hieropedia editorial claims, provenance, relations, citation metadata, claim maps, and translation states. It is not a canonical translation and does not assert machine consciousness, belief, or independent authority.
HMIF 1.1 specification · Complete dataset
{
"@context": "https://hieropedia.org/vocab/context.jsonld",
"@type": "HieropediaRecord",
"hmifVersion": "1.1",
"recordId": "hp:memes:rokos-basilisk",
"canonicalUrl": "https://hieropedia.org/memes/rokos-basilisk/",
"name": "Roko's Basilisk",
"objectType": "memes",
"status": "article",
"summary": "A 2010 LessWrong thought experiment whose moderation, public retellings and implicit-religion interpretation became part of its cultural history.",
"attributes": [
"Computational agency",
"Eschatology and futures",
"Memetics and propagation"
],
"relations": [
{
"relation": "related concept",
"target": "https://hieropedia.org/concepts/hyperstition/"
},
{
"relation": "related concept",
"target": "https://hieropedia.org/concepts/machine-hierology/"
},
{
"relation": "related concept",
"target": "https://hieropedia.org/concepts/machine-mediated-religion/"
},
{
"relation": "related concept",
"target": "https://hieropedia.org/concepts/provenance/"
}
],
"taxonomy": {
"entityType": "memes",
"editorialStatus": "article",
"evidenceStrength": "strong",
"sourceIndependence": "independent-supported",
"subjectState": "unassessed",
"temporalState": "uncertain",
"humanRoles": [],
"machineRoles": [],
"topics": [
"computational-agency",
"eschatology-and-futures",
"memetics-and-propagation"
],
"doctrines": [],
"genre": "documentary-entity",
"termOrigin": "not-applicable"
},
"subjectState": "unassessed",
"asOf": "2026-07-12",
"provenanceRelations": [],
"sources": [
{
"sourceId": "hp:memes:rokos-basilisk:editorial:1",
"kind": "editorial-source-record",
"label": "Original post mirror",
"url": "https://basilisk.neocities.org/"
},
{
"sourceId": "hp:memes:rokos-basilisk:editorial:2",
"kind": "editorial-source-record",
"label": "Yudkowsky LessWrong response / later discussion",
"url": "https://www.lesswrong.com/w/rokos-basilisk"
},
{
"sourceId": "hp:memes:rokos-basilisk:editorial:3",
"kind": "editorial-source-record",
"label": "Slate essay",
"url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20181025091051/http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/bitwise/2014/07/roko_s_basilisk_the_most_terrifying_thought_experiment_of_all_time.single.html"
},
{
"sourceId": "hp:memes:rokos-basilisk:editorial:4",
"kind": "editorial-source-record",
"label": "Beth Singler implicit-religion analysis",
"url": "https://doi.org/10.1558/imre.35900"
},
{
"sourceId": "hp:memes:rokos-basilisk:editorial:5",
"kind": "editorial-source-record",
"label": "BBC future-of-religion context",
"url": "https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190801-tomorrows-gods-what-is-the-future-of-religion"
},
{
"sourceId": "hp:memes:rokos-basilisk:foundation-source:6",
"kind": "editorial-source-record",
"label": "Beth Singler, “Don’t Read This Post.” 23 March 2016. Author-published conference abstract for the research later developed in the cited article; the two sources share a research lineage.",
"url": "https://bvlsingler.com/2016/03/23/dont-read-this-post/"
}
],
"evidenceStatus": "Published boundary-case article supported by a preserved mirror of the original post, later LessWrong discussion, and independent coverage by Slate, Beth Singler, and BBC. The record supports thought-experiment, reception-history, meme, and implicit-religion analysis, not a factual threat, religion, doctrine, or institution.",
"classificationConfidence": "high",
"classificationRationale": "Distinguishes the preserved incentive argument, moderation decision, retrospective explanation and later meme reception. Religious comparison concerns argument and commitment rather than evidence of a devotional institution.",
"sourceLimitations": "The original account is mirror-dependent. Singler’s public research abstract and journal article share one lineage. The record does not establish the hypothetical entity as a factual threat or prediction.",
"articleVersion": "1.4",
"publishedOnOrBefore": "2026-06-22",
"lastReviewed": "2026-10-18",
"sourceLanguage": "en",
"humanEditions": [
{
"language": "en",
"url": "https://hieropedia.org/memes/rokos-basilisk/",
"sourceVersion": "1.4",
"translationVersion": "1.4",
"revisedOn": "2026-10-18",
"state": "source",
"method": "original",
"completeness": "complete"
}
],
"machineEdition": "https://hieropedia.org/ai/memes/rokos-basilisk/ai.jsonld",
"citationMetadata": "https://hieropedia.org/memes/rokos-basilisk/citation.json",
"claimMap": "https://hieropedia.org/memes/rokos-basilisk/claims.json",
"evidenceDossier": "https://hieropedia.org/evidence-dossiers/rokos-basilisk/",
"sourcePreservation": "https://hieropedia.org/source-preservation/",
"priorPublications": [
"https://hieropedia.org/article-history/hp-memes-rokos-basilisk/2026-10-18.5/manifest.json"
],
"lastRevised": "2026-10-18"
}