Fun:Quantum bogodynamics

Quantum bogodynamics is the favored theory and explanatory framework for why, with no other apparent cause, technical equipment suddenly fails or people behave mindlessly. Bogons are subatomic particles that are often difficult to detect, but which interact with other matter, including brain matter and sensitive electronics, with often devastating effects. The bogon and its antiparticle, the cluon, and the mechanics of how they function, are apparently linked to the mind and its functioning in an extraordinary way. As described by the Jargon File:

Quantum bogodynamics

A theory that characterizes the universe in terms of bogon sources (such as politicians, used-car salesmen, TV evangelists, and suits in general), bogon sinks (such as taxpayers and computers), and bogosity potential fields. Bogon absorption, of course, causes human beings to behave mindlessly and machines to fail (and may also cause both to emit secondary bogons); however, the precise mechanics of the bogon-computron interaction are not yet understood and remain to be elucidated. Quantum bogodynamics is most often invoked to explain the sharp increase in hardware and software failures in the presence of suits; the latter emit bogons, which the former absorb. [...]

Here is a representative QBD theory: The bogon is a boson (integral spin, +1 or -1), and has zero rest mass. In this respect it is very much like a photon. However, it has a much greater momentum, thus explaining its destructive effect on computer electronics and human nervous systems. The corollary to this is that bogons also have tremendous inertia, and therefore a bogon beam is deflected only with great difficulty. When the bogon encounters its antiparticle, the cluon, they mutually annihilate each other, releasing magic smoke. [...]

The idea has been around for decades, but is more relevant than ever in the age of Facebook, Twitter, and other corporate social media. It is plausible that the Big Tech corporations have been developing a secret body of knowledge concerning quantum bogodynamics, which they use to ensure that their equipment keeps functioning, even as a massive number of users absorb and emit bogons through their platforms.

Unified bogosity theory

An ambitious goal not yet achieved is the unifying of the fields of memetics and quantum bogodynamics, so as to explain the mechanics of bogosity in the human world in terms of a unified bogosity theory. In large part, attempts at such a synthesis have been inspired by analyses of the bogosity of unified conspiracy theorists; measurements of their bogon emissions can sometimes reach levels of microLenat orders of magnitude greater than those of ordinary marketers, politicians, and other "influencers", levels which often cause the measuring equipment to malfunction.

One simple way to try to formulate a kind of memetic bogodynamics is to speculate about the role of memes, such as viewing the structures of memes and their activity in human beings as a kind of interface between biological minds and non-biological sources of bogosity. Maybe memes connect humans to more abstract forms of non-biological life which exert influence, and can even be transcendental centers of bogosity? Is there perhaps even a great bogon source out there? Unfortunately, well-developed theories that are also falsifiable are so far lacking.

Do unified conspiracy theorists sometimes tap into something out of the ordinary, so as to be able to charge their interactions and discourse with extraordinary bogon emissions, ones that stun critics and bring stagnation to efforts to counter misinformation? This remains a very relevant question even given the difficulties of a larger unifying theory.

As is supported by more basic observations, a feedback loop involving crank magnetism is a double-edged sword: while the resulting increase in bogosity may give an offensive edge, sometimes reaching a level where it makes for a potent weapon against skeptics in and of itself, it may also eat away at the brain and mind and person, and may in the most extreme cases lead to something which may sound somewhat like the ultimate sad fate of a Sith Lord – becoming null and void, following a time as a mere hollow shell through which a destructive radiation blasts into the world, consuming others within it. The difference is that the Sith Lord embodies great skill and intelligence, even though put to a twisted use, while the bogon-consumed super-spreader of bogosity is far more mindless, having mental qualities more like those of a corporate chatbot.

These more mystical-sounding descriptions of bogon emissions and their possible ultimate natures and sources sometimes sound similar to earlier mystical and esoteric thought, which seems ironic given the great bogosity of esoteric teaching in general. For example, below is the description which the 20th century mystic and spiritual teacher George Gurdjieff had of the pop-culture celebrities of his time, persons whose bogosity had a habit of spreading and penetrating more far and wide than Gurdjieff's own – though his arguably came in a more concentrated and impactful form where it did spread.

“”[T]hose who in the opinion of the majority of the contemporary people are "known" and "famous" and, in my opinion [...] on account of the abnormal life of their ancestors as well as their own, represent nothing more than the types who in the period of Babylonian civilization were designated as "moving sources of an evil radiation".

—George Gurdjieff, Life Is Real Only Then, When 'I Am'

Big Tech, social media, and LLM chatbots

The algorithmic echo chambers used as platforms for social exchange on the modern web are tied to data mining, in which the users and all that can be extracted from them are the product. Specifically designed to suit the bottom line of the major players in advertising and PR, they seem built to envelop the ordinary user in a bogon field large enough to span the mental field of vision. This bogon field may be carefully tuned in its strength to affect the user strongly enough to benefit the industry, while not resulting in permanent disability that would cause decreased user engagement.

The more high-technological forms of the business of bogus influence can (much like their older and more low-technological counterparts) sometimes lead to political instability as a result of the success of what the business does. What is more unique about the newer forms is the extent to which they can be used in subtle propaganda arms races and soft wars between opponents within and across countries. When taken far enough, this can lead to all sides (and the world at large) receiving possibly crippling deluges of disinformation and other manipulations. And for example, when agendas like Trumpism and COVID-19 denialism are furthered by bogon-saturated environments, or maybe even brought about by them in the first place, the resulting harm may easily cross the boundaries of permanent injury and even death. Such outcomes do not, however, negatively impact the Big Tech companies as long as critical infrastructure and the financial system continue to function.

A whole new phase in the reign of Big Tech bogosity came about with the large language model chatbot boom from 2023 and on. These chatbots were trained on all manner of materials found on the web, including all of the most bogus social media contents. To prevent the resulting canned bogosity from being too pungent and offensive for business, the corporations building these models employed enormous numbers of people in countries offering cheap labor to try to moderate and fine-tune the chatbot responses. These poorly-paid sods sometimes suffered debilitating damage in their roles as bogon sinks. Despite their valiant efforts and poorly-compensated sacrifices, bogosity remained at the core of these chatbots and the nature of the new "AI" being hyped.

The use of such chatbots was soon embraced by the most bogus of people, from scammers looking to craft spam messages, to business executives looking to cut short-term costs by replacing people who need money to write or to make art, including software programmers and legal professionals and translators and others who're paid to not be bogus, in order to get a bonus before enshittification takes its toll on business revenue later on.

Elon Musk and Twitter

One of the largest and most spectacular case studies is that of Elon Musk's time setting the direction for Twitter after purchasing it in 2022. Apparently driven by his own bogosity, over time Musk fired all the cluon sources within his new company along with other staff, as a consequence of their clashes with his personality and the basic nature of his decision-making process. This naturally lead to bogosity spreading much more easily throughout the company; becoming increasingly bogus over time, Twitter has gradually experienced increasing technical glitches and other malfunctions.

Unsurprisingly, when Musk tried to host Ron DeSantis on Twitter Spaces in May 2023, to promote the latter's presidential campaign launch, the bogosity became too much for the servers to bear, and the platform malfunctioned for half an hour, audio cutting out. Later on, similar things would happen with Musk and Donald Trump, a pair well-matched in bogosity with Musk going on to become part of the 2^nd Trump administration.

Google AI Overview

In mid-2024 Google launched Google Search AI Overview, using their LLM chatbot to serve up texts on top of the results for things people search for. Complex in its workings and saturated with bogosity following extensive training on social media content, and even sourcing some answers directly from social media, the bogosity announced itself loudly in the form of the chatbot advising people to eat rocks, put glue on their pizza, and various other intriguing things.

In fiction

Vogons

In Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, there's a mention of "bogon" which thematically fits quite well. Upon first hearing of the Vogons who destroyed Earth, after escaping the demolition with his non-Earthly friend Ford, Arthur Dent mishears and thinks they are called "Bogons".

The Vogons are described as heartless, small-minded, and bureaucratic. When space-time anomalies prevent the Earth from being destroyed in all timelines, in later books, the middling Vogon commander in charge of the demolition stops at nothing to finally be able to tick off an item on his personal to-do list with grim satisfaction.

Vogons simply like mindless destruction, along with activities like stomping around in uniforms and shouting at others, and torturing others with their poetry. Slug-like in appearance, their success is described as miraculous in view of how evolution seems to have given up on them long, long ago.

See also

• Fun:Sham quantum physics