"Continuous exposure to sensational news and content can overload our cognitive systems. In other words, a small dose of social media is not a cognitohazard, but excessive consumption can have a poisonous effect. Therefore, it's important to understand the concept of a cognitohazard to navigate the modern information landscape safely. Just as we are what we eat—healthy food leads to a healthy body, while unhealthy food or poison leads to poor health—we must be mindful of our information diets. We need to consume more healthy content and limit our exposure to potentially harmful content." - Jeremy Au
"A cognitohazard is a form of information or idea that creates danger upon comprehension. For instance, a strobe light can trigger epilepsy in someone vulnerable to flashing lights of certain colors. Simply seeing the light doesn't cause an immediate reaction, but comprehending it triggers the brain to react subconsciously, leading to an epilepsy episode. In contrast, a laser pointed at your eye causes blindness by directly harming the retina; this is different because it doesn’t involve brain processing." - Jeremy Au
"I watched a fascinating video by an MMA fighter who shared his strategy to mentally overload opponents. He used feints, deceptive movements, and constant pressure to exhaust them mentally, causing their nervous systems to react to various signals. This strategy reminds me of social media algorithm feeds. While individual short videos are fine to watch, an overdose—such as watching them for one, two, four, or even eight hours in a row—can cause mental fatigue and anxiety, as the nervous system becomes overloaded." - Jeremy Au
In this episode, Jeremy Au speaks on Cognitohazards - suicide social contagion, 1982 Tylenol poisonings, and extremist self-radicalization.
Keywords: Cognitohazards, Suicide Social Contagion, 1982 Tylenol Poisonings, Extremist Self-Radicalization, VC, Thought Leadership
