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by Lowkeyloki 2579 days ago
I disagree having read about people who work as content moderators for websites like YouTube. They frequently suffer from acute forms of PTSD having only passively consumed information. If information can cause PTSD, I would consider that information dangerous to one's mental health.
2 comments
godelski 2579 days ago
Not to mention simpler examples like the anti vax movement. Which has put not only individuals in danger, but whole populations. There's plenty of examples of information leading to harm.

(This comment is neither a recommendation for censorship nor a push for freedom is speech)

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Lowkeyloki 2579 days ago
That's true. I also thought of something like state secrets where a government agent might show up one day and make you disappear.

But that type of information is only indirectly dangerous. The actual danger is the government agent or your personal actions based on misinformation in the case of antivaxx.

I was thinking more in terms of information that is objectively dangerous. Just ingesting the information alone is enough to cause damage.

I was also reminded of an article I read recently about artists and animators who worked on the newest Mortal Kombat game suffering from PTSD due to the graphic nature of their art and the reference materials they had to use.

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godelski 2579 days ago
> I was thinking more in terms of information that is objectively dangerous. Just ingesting the information alone is enough to cause damage.

I think there are cases for that too. But it depends on your psychology. For example there are mathematicians who have studied infinities and gone insane. Others haven't. Probably other factors involved, but it helped push them over the edge.

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zaarn 2578 days ago
I would propose the unit of "Cuil". 1 Cuil is present when a piece of information causes permanent PTSD in 50% of the people viewing it within 1 week. 0.1 Cuil cause PTSD in 5% of the people viewing it and so forth. Measurements over 2 Cuil express timeframes shorter than 1 Week. So 100 Cuil would cause permanent PTSD symptoms within 8 hours.

Alternatively, you measure how long people remember the video vividly and express the danger as the half life of the information related to it's damage.

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soundpuppy 2577 days ago
Cuil idea!
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