Definition of "cognitohazard"
cognitohazard
noun
plural cognitohazards
(neurology, chiefly science fiction) An image, pattern, sound, or any other kind of sensory signal that directly causes harmful or undesired physiological or physical effects to one who senses or perceives it.
Quotations
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.
2016 January 29, StringentCurry, “SCP-2359”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 2022-12-11
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.
2017, Zachary Adam, Sanity Line (Arcane Revolution Series), CreateSpace
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?
2018, Paul Briggs, Altered Seasons: Monsoonrise, Secant Publishing
Awawawa is a cognitohazard that spreads specifically among submissive trans people
2022 December 6, @circleoflust, Twitter, archived from the original on 2023-01-03