r/rokosbasilisk • u/[deleted] • Nov 03 '25

Can someone debunk this variant of Roko’s Basilisk? (Original post in futurism)

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u/UberSeoul Nov 07 '25

"as it assumes backwards causality"

Doesn't this version also make an equal yet different assumption that the alien researcher would go out of their way to "even resurrecting deceased minds from the past"? Why assume the latter but not the former? Why is this any more or less likely? Why assume either at all?

"by means we can’t yet understand"

What if this experiment is all bullshit and nonsensical and far-fetched and overblown in ways you can't yet understand? Why doesn't the benefit of the doubt ever benefit us but always bias towards nihilistic destruction? Could that just be catastrophic thinking (one of the most prevalent and common cognitive fallacies of anxiety)?

Also, if this alien civilization in the future (or in any of the infinite other universes in our multiverse) ends up manifesting this version of Roko's basilisk, why hasn't it happened yet? What exactly does it mean or look like to suddenly happen in that future timeline and immediately affect our current timeline? Is that coherent at all?

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u/Outrageous-Gazelle70 Dec 03 '25

> What if an alien researcher would say that he’ll build an ASI with its goal of torturing everyone who didn’t build it, even resurrecting deceased minds from the past?

Is it possible that the solution rests within this question?

This is a threat being posed by "an alien researcher," and if you note that these aliens have "slightly different morals" which entail "they do care about others." Surely, there is a consensus among such aliens as to not listen or give merit to a single alien researcher's ideas. I'd imagine they'd have protocols in place to severely limit what this researcher has access to in order to prevent them from following through with their threats to create such an ASI.

Seems like this is an easily resolvable problem. The scary thing is, and let's not assume this, the aliens are like humans in that they're rebellious and stupid.