cognitohazard
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kɒɡˈni.təʊˌhæ.zəd/
ipa: /-tə-/
ipa: /kɔɡˈni.toʊˌhæ.zəɹd/
ipa: /-tə-/
ipa: /-ɾoʊ-/
ipa: /-ɾə-/
ipa: /kɑɡˈni.toʊˌhæ.zəɹd/
ipa: /-tə-/
ipa: /-ɾoʊ-/
ipa: /-ɾə-/
Forms: form: cognitohazards
Etymology: Blend of cognition + hazard, likely coined and popularized by the SCP Foundation wiki.
Senses: examples: text: The symbol on that piece of paper is a cognitohazard which puts everyone who reads it in a week-long coma.
text: SUMBITCH. I started listening to http://nyan.cat/ again and now I can't turn it off. #memetic #cognitohazard #scp
ref: 2011 April 28, @triggurgoat, Twitter, archived from the original on 03 Jan 2023:
text: CAUTION! High-grade Cognitohazard in effect!
ref: 2011 July 29, @LexLevinholt, Twitter, archived from the original on 03 Jan 2023:
text: The one about Qpple hardware being a cognitohazard?
(I made that up, BTW. :D )
ref: 2013 February 27, neurotrashboy, “Place name of the week”, in alt.running.out.of.newsgroup.names (Usenet), retrieved 09 Dec 2022:
text: SCP-2359’s primary anomalous property is a cognitohazard that propagates to anyone who makes visual, auditory or informational contact with it. The infection impresses a false identity and memories of SCP-2359 onto the mind of the affected subject.
ref: 2016 January 29, StringentCurry, “SCP-2359”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 11 Dec 2022:
text: Numerous people have reported, or, more accurately, been discovered, as having been subjected to the proscribed work The King in Yellow. […] For one thing, we’re not even sure there’s anything useful in the King play. It’s a complete cognitohazard.
ref: 2017, Zachary Adam, Sanity Line (Arcane Revolution Series), CreateSpace, →ISBN:
text: The last week was devoted to an equally theoretical threat—weaponized cognitohazards. Brown notes. Things that you could be hurt, or possibly killed, by just seeing or hearing them… and what would happen if they got on the Internet. How would people protect themselves?
ref: 2018, Paul Briggs, Altered Seasons: Monsoonrise, Secant Publishing, →ISBN:
text: “Says here you’re on the front lines, not search and rescue. Do you have the cognitohazard equipment?”
ref: 2020, Azalea Ellis, Gods of Ash and Amber (Seeds of Chaos), Seladore Publishing, →ISBN:
text: TL;DR: “Infohazard” means any kind of information that could be harmful in some fashion. Let’s use “cognitohazard” to describe information that could specifically harm the person who knows it.
ref: [2020 February 2, eukaryote, “A point of clarification on infohazard terminology”, in LessWrong, archived from the original on 11 Dec 2022:
text: Curses! Foiled again by the cognitohazard of Harry Styles’ painted nails!!!!!!
ref: 2022 August 26, Ryan Broderick, Garbage Day, retrieved 16 Oct 2023:
text: Awawawa is a cognitohazard that spreads specifically among submissive trans people
ref: 2022 December 6, @circleoflust, Twitter, archived from the original on 03 Jan 2023:
topics: literature
media
medicine
neurology
neuroscience
publishing
science-fiction
sciences
coordinate_terms: infohazard
memetic hazard
glosses: A sensory signal (such as an image or sound) that directly causes harmful or undesired physiological effects to one who senses or perceives it.
wikipedia: SCP Foundation
Derived terms: cognitohazardous