WEBVTT - The Great Basilisk 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:01.880 The podcast you were about to listen to contains a 0:00:01.960 --> 0:00:06.000 class for information hazard. Some listeners may experience prolonged bouts 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:10.080 of fear, waking, anxiety, or nightmares of eternal torture. In 0:00:10.119 --> 0:00:13.400 the cyber dungeons of the Great Basilisk attended to by 0:00:13.400 --> 0:00:16.400 the Peelers in Black and the Thirteen Children of the Flame, 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:24.680 also appetite, loss, and constipation. Proceed with caution. Welcome to 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:34.000 Stuff to Blow your Mind from how stuff Works dot com. 0:00:34.040 --> 0:00:35.720 Hey are you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind? 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:38.760 My name is Robert Lamb, and I'm Joe McCormick. And 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:42.920 since it's October, we are of course still exploring monsters, 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:46.200 terrifying ideas and so forth, and boy, have we got 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:48.640 one for you today. I just want to issue a 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:52.640 warning right at the beginning here that today's episode is 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:56.440 going to concern something that a few people would consider 0:00:56.840 --> 0:01:00.360 a genuine information hazard, as in an idea you that 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:04.440 is itself actually dangerous. Now I I don't, having looked 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:06.360 into it, I don't think that is the case. I 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:09.399 don't think this episode will hurt you, but just a 0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:13.440 warning if you think you're susceptible to terror or nightmares 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:16.880 or something when presented with a thought experiment or the 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:20.840 possibility of being, say, sent to a literal hell created 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:24.000 by technology, and you think that idea could infect you, 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:26.280 could make you afraid. This might not be the episode 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:29.080 for you, right, But then again, I assume you're a 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:31.919 listener to stuff to blow your mind. You've probably already 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:36.440 encountered some thought hazards on here. You've survived those. Generally speaking, 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:38.959 I have faith in you to survive this one. However, 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:41.280 if you are going to take either of our warnings seriously, 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:43.720 I will let you know that the first section of 0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:46.959 this podcast is going to deal with the mythical basilisk, 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:50.320 the folkloric basilisk, and some of the you know, the 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:53.600 monstrous fund to be had there before we explore the 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:57.280 idea of Rocco's Basilisk, and in that we're gonna be 0:01:57.520 --> 0:02:02.320 talking about this, uh, this idea that emerges where technological singularity, 0:02:02.400 --> 0:02:07.120 navel gazing, thought experimentation, a little that dash of creepy pasta, 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:10.920 and some good old fifth fashion supernatural thinking all converge 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:14.680 into this kind of nightmare scenario. Now, as we said, 0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:18.480 this idea is believed by some to be a genuinely 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:21.679 dangerous idea and that even learning about it could put 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:23.520 you at some kind of risk. I think there are 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:25.919 strong reasons to believe that this is not the case, 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:28.520 and that thinking about this idea will not put you 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:31.480 at risk. But again, if you're concerned, you should stop 0:02:31.560 --> 0:02:34.200 listening now, or stop listening after we stopped talking about 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:37.200 the mythical basilisk now I have I just want to 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:40.520 say at the beginning, listeners have suggested us talk about 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:45.119 Rocco's basilisk before this idea that is at least purportedly 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:50.119 an information hazard, a dangerous idea, and I've I've hesitated 0:02:50.160 --> 0:02:52.280 to do it before, and not because I think it's 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:56.720 particularly plausible, but just because, you know, I wonder, what 0:02:56.960 --> 0:03:00.680 is the level of risk could that you should tolerate 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:03.800 when propagating an idea. If you think an idea is 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:07.720 unlikely but maybe has a zero point zero zero zero 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:11.880 zero one percent chance of causing enormous harm to the 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:14.480 person you tell it to, should you say the idea 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:16.600 or not? I don't know. I feel like people generally 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:19.160 don't exercise that kind of caution when they're like sharing 0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:21.520 links with you, Like sometimes they'll be like, like not 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:24.840 safe for work. But but then you click on it anyway, 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:26.840 and then sometimes you're like, oh, I wish I had 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:28.760 not seen that, or I wish I had not read that, 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:31.080 and now that's in my head. Now that's in my 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:33.760 head forever. Well. One of the problems with this idea 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:36.880 is whatever you think about whether or not you should 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:39.720 discuss ideas that may be dangerous to hear in some 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:43.760 extremely unlikely off chance. Uh. Part of the problem is 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:46.600 what happens when those ideas are just already set loose 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:49.680 in in society. I mean now people on television shows 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:52.320 and all over the internet or talking about this idea. 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:54.080 There are a bunch of articles out about it. So 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:55.800 it's not like you can keep the cat in the 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:59.240 bag at this point, right this Roco's basilist has already 0:03:59.240 --> 0:04:03.119 been a a gag point on the hit HBO show 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:05.760 Silicon Valley, which is a fabulous show, and I love 0:04:05.800 --> 0:04:09.040 the way that they treated Rocco's basilisk on it. But uh, yeah, 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:11.720 if they're covering it, there's no danger in us covering 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:13.240 it too. That's the way I look at it, right, 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:15.120 And at least I would hope that the way we 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:17.120 cover it can give you some reasons to think you 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:20.200 should not be afraid of digital hell, and also to 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:22.800 think about the general class of what should be done 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:25.560 about something that could have in fact been a real 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:29.240 information hazard in some other case. So that's all our 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:31.880 whole preamble for before we get to that section. But 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:33.800 before we get to that section, we're gonna be talking 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:39.360 about basilisks today. Boy, is the basilisk a great monster? Yes, 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:43.680 also known as the basil cock, the basil cock, the 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:47.800 basil e cock, basically any version of that of basil 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:50.800 and cock that you can put together, um, that you 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:53.720 can slam together. Then it has been referred to as 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:55.800 such at some point in its history. Now, a lot 0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:58.160 of people I think probably encountered a version of the 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:01.159 basilisk from Harry Potter. But Robert, I know that was 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:03.920 not your entryway, right, I encountered it for the first time. 0:05:03.920 --> 0:05:06.920 I believe in dungeons and dragons, of course, because it's 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:10.039 a it's a multi legged reptile with a petrifying gaze. 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:14.480 Um say that again, multi legged reptile with a petrifying gaze, 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:18.000 petrifying gas to turn you to stone. Yeah, and I 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:20.560 is ever over call correctly. It has some cool biology, 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:23.279 where like the the it turns you to stone and 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:25.560 then like bust you into pieces. Then it eats the 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:28.400 stone pieces, but then its stomach turns the stone back 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:30.880 into flesh. And so if you get like the stomach 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:33.680 juices from a basilisk, then you can use it to 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:37.240 undo petrification spells, that sort of thing. It's a lot 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:41.320 of fun, arguably more fun than than the basilisk is 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:44.560 at times in folklore tradition, because one of the things is, 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:46.719 if you you like me, you didn't grow up hearing 0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:48.960 about the basilisk. Part of it is because there are 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:51.840 no there aren't really any great stories about the basilisk. 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:56.960 Slaying the basilisk was no heroes, great ordeal. Oh yeah, 0:05:57.000 --> 0:05:58.840 I at least have not come across that. Yeah, it 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:01.040 really helps, like if like the hydra, I mean, the 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:04.839 hydra is arguably so much cooler, and then also it's 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:07.440 one of the labors of Hercules, and there's a cool 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:10.039 story about how they defeat it. Well, maybe it's because 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:13.000 there is no way to defeat the basilisks short of say, 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:15.960 weasel of fluvium, which we will get to. Yeah, don't 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:18.160 don't give it away, I'm sorry. Should we should we 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:20.040 edit that out. No, we should leave it. It's a 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:24.599 it's it's a thought hazard. Any basilists listening. Still, there's 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:27.279 so much more to the basilist than just this cool 0:06:27.400 --> 0:06:30.840 DND creature, because it's not just a monster. It's not 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:33.479 just something you encounter in the dungeon. It is it 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:36.440 is a king. Oh, I see, now, I know you've 0:06:36.480 --> 0:06:39.160 made note of the fact that Borges mentions the basilisk 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:42.200 and his Book of Imaginary Beings. He does now he 0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:46.159 he translated translated his meaning little king, little king, which 0:06:46.200 --> 0:06:49.360 I like when I was reading. And Carol Rose she's 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:53.119 She points out that the name stems from the Greek basilius, 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:56.800 which means king, so king or little king. I tend 0:06:56.839 --> 0:06:58.839 to like the little king translation because I feel like 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:01.520 it it ties in better with what we're going to discuss, well, 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:04.400 the ancient BEASTI area ideas of the basil I believe 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:09.039 to say that it's not that big, right, It's pretty small. Yeah. Yeah. Now. 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:12.160 The keen part, though, refers to a crest or, a 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:15.200 crown like protusion that is on the creature's head, and 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:19.840 in some depictions it's no mirror biological ornament, but an 0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:24.640 actual regal crown. It means something. Yeah. Now, the descriptions 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:28.200 very greatly, and it emerges largely from European and Middle 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:32.480 Eastern legend and folklore from ancient times to roughly the 0:07:32.560 --> 0:07:35.920 seventeenth century, and that's when the basilists became less popular. 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:39.480 In the earlier descriptions, though, it is indeed small, and 0:07:39.520 --> 0:07:42.360 it's just a grass snake, only it has a crown 0:07:42.440 --> 0:07:45.200 like crest on its head and has this weird practice 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:49.840 of floating above the ground like vertically erect. That's creepy, 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:52.040 of course, and then again that that does play on 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:55.520 sometimes when you see snakes rise up out of a coil, 0:07:55.640 --> 0:07:58.800 it can be startling how high they rise. Yeah, I mean, 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:02.040 if I feel like I've grown up seeing images and 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:05.600 videos of cobra's doing their their dance, so I've kind 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:08.440 of I've kind of lost any kind of appreciation for 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:11.280 how bizarre that is to look at. You know, if 0:08:11.280 --> 0:08:13.440 you're used to seeing a snake slither, to see it 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:17.080 stand up and uh, you know and rare back and 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:21.080 and and flare its hood. Absolutely. Yeah. So the basilisk 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:24.320 is said to be the king of the reptiles, but 0:08:24.520 --> 0:08:26.720 you know, don't be so foolish is to think that 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:30.360 only it's bite is lethal, like some of our venomous snakes. Now, 0:08:30.760 --> 0:08:34.560 every aspect of the basilisk is said to just reek 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:39.080 of venom and death, every every aspect. If you touch it, 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:42.400 if you inhale its breath, if you gaze upon it 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:46.800 at all, then you will die. Wait, what about its saliva? Yep, saliva, 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:51.240 blood smell, gaze? Presumably I didn't see any reference that 0:08:51.240 --> 0:08:54.360 the presumably it's it's urine, it's excrement. I mean, it's 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:57.679 excrement has to be poisonous, the excrement of a basilisk. 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:00.560 It sounds absolutely deadly. Wouldn't it be a great inversion 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:03.360 if it's excrement was the only good part about it? 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:06.400 And maybe so that can heal your warts? Yeah? And uh. 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:09.040 One thing that Carol Rose pointed out in in her 0:09:09.960 --> 0:09:12.880 her entry about the basilisk and her one of her 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:16.880 monster Encyclopedia's, she said that when it's not killing everything 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:19.319 in its path, just via that you know the audacity 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:22.360 of its existence, it would actually spit them at birds 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:26.360 flying overhead and bring them down to eat them, or 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:28.240 just out of spite. I get the idea. Just had 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:30.559 a spite. You know, it's just just it's just my 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:34.480 ful death, that's all it is. Okay. So where do 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:36.959 I find a basilisk? Well, in the desert, of course. 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:39.200 But it's more, it's more accurate to say that the 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:42.560 desert is not merely the place where it lives, but 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:45.920 it is the place that it makes by living. Like 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:50.559 everything in its path dies, and therefore the desert is 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:54.000 the result of the basilisk. And there's a there's actually 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:57.640 a wonderful um a description of the basilisk that comes 0:09:57.640 --> 0:09:59.679 to us from Plenty of the Elder in his The 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:02.280 net Real History Man. We've been hitting Plenty a lot lately. 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:04.760 I guess we've been talking about monsters. Huh. If're talking 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:08.000 about monsters, especially ancient monsters, that you know, he's he's 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:11.120 one of the great sources to turn to. So Joe, 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:14.800 would you read to us from the natural History? Oh? Absolutely, 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:18.200 there is the same power also in the serpent called 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:21.840 the basilisk. It is produced in the province of Syrene, 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:25.000 which that is the area to the west of Egypt. 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:27.160 It's like Libya. I think there's a settlement known as 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:32.360 like Syrene, Syrene being not more than twelve fingers in length. 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:36.600 Is that fingers long ways or fingers sideways? Oh, either 0:10:36.600 --> 0:10:39.680 way you cut it, it's not a huge creature. It 0:10:39.760 --> 0:10:42.640 has a white spot on the head, strongly resembling a 0:10:42.679 --> 0:10:46.319 sort of diadem. When it hisses, all the other serpents 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:49.240 fly from it, and it does not advance its body 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:52.480 like the others by a succession of folds, but moves 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:57.079 along upright and erect upon the middle. It destroys all shrubs, 0:10:57.200 --> 0:11:00.120 not only by its contact, but those even that it 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:03.760 has breathed upon. It burns up all the grass too, 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:08.000 and breaks the stones. So tremendous is its noxious influence. 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:10.880 It was formerly a general belief that if a man 0:11:11.000 --> 0:11:13.600 on horseback killed one of these animals with a spear, 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:16.319 the poison would run up the weapon and kill not 0:11:16.400 --> 0:11:19.360 only the rider but the horse as well. Oh man, 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:22.640 I love that. So it's though the blood is it's 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:25.319 like that like a xenomorph's blood, right or or kind 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:27.560 of like It reminds me to of Grendel's blood that 0:11:27.600 --> 0:11:29.720 was said to like melt the weapon that they wolf 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:32.080 used against it. Oh, but it's worse than that. It 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:34.600 doesn't just get the weapon, It gets the person holding 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:37.600 the weapon and the horse that that person is touching. 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:40.000 I know, it feels unfair that the horse is roped 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:42.640 into this as well. Yeah, the horse didn't even sign 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:44.840 up for going to fight a basilisk. It's just trying 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:47.520 to get some oats. But furthermore, what is this horse 0:11:47.640 --> 0:11:50.120 rider doing out in the waste land of Syrene trying 0:11:50.160 --> 0:11:54.199 to kill a basilisk? Well, lesson learned. Lesson learned now 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:59.240 that the basilist becomes a popular creature, and even though 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:02.440 the basil usk itself is it doesn't seem to have 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:05.360 been mentioned in the Bible, it ends up being like 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:08.560 roped into it via translations. Oh yeah, it's kind of 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:11.439 like the unicorn. Actually, yeah, exactly. Yeah. We discussed in 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:15.360 our episode on unicorns how the were their words in 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:18.480 the Bible that have been translated saying the King James 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:21.800 translation of the Bible into unicorn because the translators didn't 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:24.240 know what the word referred to. We think now that 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:27.400 maybe the word probably referred to the ROCs, an extinct 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:31.560 bovine creature that once lived around the ancient Mediterranean. Yeah, 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:33.760 so you see the basilist pop pop pop up in 0:12:34.040 --> 0:12:38.120 certain translations of the Book of Jeremiah. The Book of Psalms, 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:42.480 Uh what it's associated with the devil or evil, and 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:45.640 nothing short of the coming of the Messiah can can 0:12:45.679 --> 0:12:47.880 hope to end its rule. While well, have you got 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:52.599 a quote for me? Yes, there's one translation of Psalms. 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:57.680 This is the Brinton Septuagint translation quote thou shalt tread 0:12:57.760 --> 0:13:01.120 on the asp and basilisk and al shout trample on 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:04.560 the lion and dragon. Now European beast areas of the 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:09.000 eleventh and twelfth century. They both mostly maintained Plenty's description, 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:13.640 but then they described a larger body. They began to Essentially, 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:15.800 the monster began to grow. We got to beat this 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:18.520 thing up here. Yeah, it ended up having spots and 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:21.800 stripes and a few other features were thrown in. Um 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:25.680 fiery breath, a bellow that kills. Well, that only makes 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:28.160 sense if every other thing about it kills. Yea, it 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:31.440 makes noise. That should kill things too. Also, the ability 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:35.520 to induce hydrophobia madness. I found that interesting because this 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:39.040 clearly has to be a reference to the actual hydrophobia 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:42.079 that is inherent in rabies. Yeah, the idea there being that, 0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:45.640 and I think later stages of Araby's infection. Persons will 0:13:45.679 --> 0:13:49.440 often have difficulty swallowing, and so that they they're said 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:54.040 to refuse drinking water. So Plenty has some additional information 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:58.600 here about how you might deal with the pass list. Okay, 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:01.160 so I assume not ride up on a horse and 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:03.560 stab it right, Well, tell me what it is to 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:07.439 this dreadful monster. The effluvium of the weasel is fatal, 0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:11.240 a thing that has been tried with success, for kings 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:14.920 have often desired to see its body when killed. So 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:17.839 true is it that it has pleased nature that there 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:21.680 should be nothing without its antidote. The animal is thrown 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:24.680 into the whole of the basilisk, which is easily known 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:28.360 from the soil around it being infected. The weasel destroys 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:31.720 the basilisk by its odor, but dies itself in the 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:36.680 struggle of nature against its own self. And John Bostock, 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:39.600 who provided the translation of this, he adds that there's 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:42.600 probably no foundation for this account of the action of 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:45.960 the effluvium of the weasel upon the basilisk or any 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:49.000 other species of serpent. But this is letting us know 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:51.600 that throwing a weasel in there to bleed on it 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:54.840 or secrete fluids or whatever. That's not going to kill 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:58.120 this mythical monster. But this is interesting though, because weasels, 0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:02.360 especially the stout, we're thought to be venomous um. And 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:04.920 it's worth noting that we do have some venomous mammals 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:08.360 in the natural world, such as various shrews, and even 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:12.120 the slow loris, the only known venomous primate. I don't 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:15.880 think I knew that the slow loris was venomous. Throw 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:18.400 it into a hole with a basilisk and and I'm 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:21.680 I'm betting on the loris. But anyway, BEASTI areas of 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:24.400 the time. They presented a few different ways that you 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:27.080 could kill the bassilist. So the weasels one, weasels one 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:30.760 always carry a weasel. Also, this one's a little more elegant, 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:33.320 but I have a crystal globe with you to reflect 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:37.040 its own petrifying gaze back upon the basilisk. Oh, so 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:41.040 it's like Perseus and Medusa exactly mirror. Yeah, basically they 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:43.920 just stole the idea from Medusa here, but then also 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:47.600 carry with you a cockrell or a young rooster. The 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:51.640 basilist will becoming enraged by the bird's crown. The idea 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:54.720 that this bird has a crown as well, and the 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:58.640 basilist will die from a lethal fit. That's a jealous king. Yeah, 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:01.320 I believe a similar thing occurs when someone refuses to 0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:05.280 believe dinosaurs had fetishes, you know, how dare the bird 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:08.720 rise above the mighty reptile and then it just loses 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:11.560 its mind and dies. We can only hope the producers 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:14.080 of the Jurassic World movies avoid this fate. So you 0:16:14.120 --> 0:16:16.720 see the basketlists show up in a number of different writings. 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:20.040 It's just kind of a common um, really a symbol 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:23.080 and idea that can be employed. Uh. And they even 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:25.360 to see it show up in the Parson's Tale in 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:28.560 the in Jeffrey Chaucer in the Canterbury Tales. Yes, quote, 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:31.880 these are the other five fingers which the devil uses 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:35.120 to draw people towards him. The first is the lecterous 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:38.000 glance of a foolish woman or a foolish man, a 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:41.560 glance that kills just as the basilists kills people just 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:44.800 by looking at them. For the covetous glance reflects the 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:47.360 intentions of the heart. You know, this kind of thing 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:50.040 is actually one of my one of my favorite things 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:54.560 about monsters, especially ancient medieval monsters and uh and so forth. 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:58.720 Is that they often aren't just like a large, dangerous animal, 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:02.040 but they embody some kind of value. They represent something, 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:05.320 They give you something to compare other things too, like 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:08.920 they they they're very useful as a metaphor uh. And 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:10.879 then really we see some more thing with the bassilisk. 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:14.240 It becomes less far less the situation where people are like, hey, 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:16.280 you need to be careful because there's a basilisk in 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:20.359 the desert, and more and more just a useful model, useful, 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:24.040 ridiculous idea that we use to illustrate something that is 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:27.400 presumably true about the world and then ultimately loses all 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:30.080 meaning and just winds up on, you know, a heraldry 0:17:30.119 --> 0:17:35.159 and decorations. Now, as we've seen already, the the basilisk 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:38.760 has been through some transformations of form, and I assume 0:17:38.800 --> 0:17:42.360 those transformations must have somewhat continued as time goes by, 0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:46.000 and it becomes uh, it transforms into this idea of 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:48.800 the cock of thrace. This uh, this rooster with a 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:51.439 curling serpent's tail. In fact, if you if you go 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:54.200 looking around for images the basilist, sometimes you will find 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:56.560 this image instead. You really will find you'll find this 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:01.720 alongside all the other images. Um. So again a reptile 0:18:01.760 --> 0:18:05.200 to bird transfer transformation that just must enrage those who 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:08.320 oppose feathered dinosaurs. And it does feel like a shame 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:10.560 because we have this vile reptile. It becomes the kind 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:13.440 of a weirdo bird instead. And it said that it's 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:16.200 it's it's what happens when you have a seven year 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:20.280 old chicken egg hatched by a toad who undead avians. Yeah, 0:18:20.600 --> 0:18:23.760 but it's also made deadlier in these newer versions. So 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:27.800 now it has that that poison blood power that Plenty describes. 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:31.520 It also rots fruit and poisons water everywhere it goes, 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:34.760 So it becomes this kind of embodiment of desolation and death, 0:18:35.080 --> 0:18:39.240 and the idea itself becomes popular. It influenced the naming 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:42.040 of a tutor canon like literally a cannon that shoots 0:18:42.320 --> 0:18:45.639 called the basilisk, just because it's it's such a powerful weapon, 0:18:45.680 --> 0:18:49.720 we have to name it after this powerful, deadly monster. Uh. 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:53.160 And it eventually got some of its reptilian features back. Um. 0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:57.679 The artist Andrew Vandi has this excellent, excellent depiction of 0:18:57.680 --> 0:19:01.120 it in Natural History of Serpents and Dragons that gives 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:06.359 it scales and these. It's like a fat, scaly reptile 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:11.879 bird with eight rooster legs, which I just love. This 0:19:11.920 --> 0:19:14.560 will probably be the illustration for this episode on our 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:17.639 on our website, But after that the creature largely became 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:20.639 just a part of European heraldry. It's just something you 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:24.760 would see as a mere decoration or occasionally just a 0:19:24.880 --> 0:19:28.080 literary reference. Now, one thing that we want to be 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:31.400 careful about is that we should not confuse the basilisk 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:36.600 of legend the monster with true extent. Basilisk lizards also 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:40.240 known sometimes as the Jesus Christ lizard or the Jesus lizard, 0:19:40.640 --> 0:19:43.960 for their ability to run across the surface of water 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:46.760 without sinking for up to about four point five meters 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:50.040 or about fifteen feet. Uh. If you've ever seen video this, 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:53.120 it's really cool. How how do they do that? I've 0:19:53.160 --> 0:19:55.359 often wondered. I didn't know until I looked it up 0:19:55.400 --> 0:19:58.560 for this episode. Apparently what they've got is big feet 0:19:59.080 --> 0:20:02.000 and the ability to run very fast. And what happens 0:20:02.040 --> 0:20:05.080 is when they run, they slap the water very hard 0:20:05.160 --> 0:20:07.760 with each down stroke of the foot. And it has 0:20:07.800 --> 0:20:09.600 to do with the way that the rapid motions of 0:20:09.600 --> 0:20:12.280 their feet create these air pockets around their feet as 0:20:12.320 --> 0:20:15.200 they move. I was reading an article a New Scientist 0:20:15.320 --> 0:20:17.960 where some researchers who were working on this problem said 0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:20.600 that in order for an eight m or a hundred 0:20:20.600 --> 0:20:23.240 and seventy five pound human to do this, you would 0:20:23.240 --> 0:20:25.840 have to run at about a hundred and eight kilometers 0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:29.040 per hour about sixty seven miles per hour across the 0:20:29.080 --> 0:20:32.600 surface of the water. But anyway, you can find basilisk 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:36.359 lizards in South America and Central America and Mexico and 0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:38.280 uh as far as I know, they do not kill 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:42.919 with a glance, and you cannot fight them with weasel fluvium. 0:20:42.960 --> 0:20:46.920 All right, Well, that pretty much wraps up the mythical, legendary, 0:20:47.119 --> 0:20:52.480 folkloric basilisk um it's rise and individual fall. But we're 0:20:52.480 --> 0:20:54.720 gonna take a break, and when we come back, we 0:20:54.760 --> 0:20:59.520 are going to get into this idea of of Rocco's Basiliska, 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:04.720 the great basilisk, the once and perhaps future king. Thank you, 0:21:04.920 --> 0:21:08.359 thank alright, we're back. Al right. So, as we mentioned earlier, 0:21:08.359 --> 0:21:10.640 we're about to start discussing an idea that has been 0:21:10.680 --> 0:21:15.000 classed by some as something that could be an information hazard. 0:21:15.080 --> 0:21:18.560 An idea that simply by thinking about it you somehow 0:21:19.000 --> 0:21:22.879 increase the chance of harm to yourself. So just another 0:21:22.920 --> 0:21:25.879 warning that again I don't think that's the case, but 0:21:26.000 --> 0:21:29.639 if that kind of thing scares you, then then perhaps 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:32.639 you can tune out. Now, all right, for those of 0:21:32.640 --> 0:21:36.440 you who decided to stick around, let's proceed. So we're 0:21:36.440 --> 0:21:39.480 talking about Rocco's Bassilist. This is an idea that goes 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:43.679 back to around and it was proposed by a user 0:21:43.800 --> 0:21:47.760 at the blog less Wrong, by a user named Rocco 0:21:48.320 --> 0:21:51.760 now less Wrong. I think it's a website that's a 0:21:51.800 --> 0:21:56.560 community that's associated with the rationalist movement somewhat, the rationalist 0:21:56.680 --> 0:22:02.080 movement being a movement that's concerned with trying to optimize thinking, 0:22:02.200 --> 0:22:06.359