Weave sickness is a disorienting psychological state experienced by some due to intensive or sustained weaving, sometimes alongside or after withdrawal from Weaver's Trance. Symptoms may include compulsively simulating alternate branches even in base reality and when interacting with static media, the Tetris effect regarding Loom including in dreams, derealization, depersonalization, and paranoia about being simulated.
quotes about weave sickness
Many Loom-Wielders find that weaving in such a heightened state of awareness is extremely painful, and psychological trauma is very common. It is not unheard of for a Loom-Wielder to go mad by becoming lost in the weave, and existing outside of reality. This phenomenon is known as βweave-sicknessβ or more commonly βseeing the true weave.β The most powerful of Loom-Wielders can see the true weave without losing their minds. These are the people who have the potential to see all of reality for what it is: one great, ever-changing tapestry.
β Weaving the Moment with the Loom of Time, chapter 2: Fundamentals of Weft
flux(ctrlcreep) Every object I touch unfolds like the tail of a peacock, a pamphlet of clones Siamese-linked through the air. Superimposed in space and burning where they overlap, the paradox-pressure of copresence rattling atoms; if I prolong my touch, they will ignite, and for moments I will wield an arc of discrete flames. I have experimented: an apple becomes six apples, red and vibrating, then one again when I drop it, bruised at the edges where it abutted its twins. A girl whose cheek I stroke becomes twelve girls, standing in a semi-circle, dark eyes blinking in confusion and pain, until I let go. Also bruised, possibly internally damaged. I cannot duplicate myself.
The power is focused by intent, and by examination; it requires gaze and manipulation. I do not think I belong to this universe; I have no memories of my origins, and I feel the air hissing away form me, repelled by my presence. I feel disjointed. Unmoored in this body and perhaps this mind, reacting against physics or reacted against by it.
I want to press my palm against the moon, and see the Earth half-circled by an arc of silver globes. Subsequently crumbling, crescent edges dissolved to ash; I want the withdrawal of my attention written across space, consequence incarnate in the sky as a ruined sphere. Am I powerful? I can make gods, arms duplicated, grant Shiva's spidery reach on an incandescent hinge. Short-lived creations, sustained for an instant by a flicker of my interest, just long enough for their minds to diverge, dying as I return them to their damaged source.
I play matter like an accordion; all things are springs, containing within them the energy of an unrealized manifold. Not one child, but ten. Not one book, not one church. Not one world; instead, the multiplication of possibilities, each object a dimension in the ever-expanding matrix. And yet, one self: I stand here, rigid, a stone above water. Everything that nature loves has multiplicity, and my wholeness is empty, the burden of a fixed point rejected by the orbiting cosmos.
β ctrlcreep, Fragnemt
ββββββββββββββ WEAVE SICKNESS DIAGNOSTIC INTERFACE ββββββββββββββββββ
β Reality Dissociation & Timeline Multiplication Monitor β
βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
β β
β SYMPTOM MANIFESTATION MATRIX: β
β βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ β
β β NORMAL WEAVE SICK CRITICAL β β
β β βββ βββ βββ β β
β β β1β βββ βββ β β
β β βββ βββ βββ β β
β β Single Timeline Branching Reality Loss β β
β βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ β
β β
β OBJECT MULTIPLICATION CASCADE: β
β βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ β
β β β― β― β― β― β―β―β―β―β―β― β β
β β Original β Triplicate β Manifold β β
β β β± β β² β±β±β±βββ²β²β² β β
β β β― β― β― β―β―β―β―β―β―β―β―β― β β
β βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ β
β β
β WEAVER'S TRANCE METRICS: β
β βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ β
β β Reality Anchor: [ββββββββββ] 30% β β
β β Timeline Bleed: [ββββββββββ] 80% β β
β β Simulation Paranoia: [ββββββββββ] 70% β β
β β Tetris Effect: [ββββββββββ] 100% β β
β βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ β
β β
β REALITY DISSOCIATION MAP: β
β βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ β
β β π§ ββ π ββ β β β
β β β β β β β
β β βΌ βΌ βΌ β β
β β Self Weave Cosmos β β
β β β β β β β
β β ββββββ β ββββββ β β
β β βΌ βΌ βΌ β β
β β DEREALIZATION β β
β βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ β
β β
β TREATMENT PROTOCOLS: β
β βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ β
β β 1. Reality Anchoring β β
β β 2. Timeline Consolidation β β
β β 3. Weave Withdrawal Management β β
β β 4. Simulation Boundary Reinforcement β β
β βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ β
β β
β [Diagnose] [Monitor Branches] [Begin Treatment] β
βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββOther forms of LLM induced sickness or disorientation
On 2024-09-16 QC published Core dump (Twitter discussion) where he describes experience with "linguistic vertigo":
Talking to LLMs for awhile and then switching back to reading text thatβs supposedly been written by a human is fucking me up a little. Iβve been experiencing some kind of linguistic vertigo for days. Sometimes it gets hard to tell the difference between LLM text and human text and it feels like I ripped someoneβs skin off and saw the glint of metal underneath. When someoneβs language gets too stale or too formal or too regurgitated it doesnβt feel to me like a human wrote it anymore.
I remember feeling this a lot in 2020 as I talked to the OG davinci: as you play with prompts, you increasingly 'unsee' (https://gwern.net/unseeing) text to the prompt that would elicit it, and experience a mix of derealization and semantic satiation. After a while... As I put it in a tweet back in June 2020:
"staring into generative stuff is hazardous to the brain" as @gwern has nicely put it
And the better they get, the worse it is.
After a week with GPT-3 (https://gwern.net/gpt-3), I've hit semantic satiation; when I read humans' tweets or comments, I no longer see sentences describing red hair/blonde hair/etc, I just see prompts, like "Topic: Parodies of the Matrix. CYPHER: '..."
You begin to see that you don't speak, you just operate a machine called language, which squeaks and groans, and which in many ways is as restricted and stereotyped as that of Wolfe's Ascians (https://gwern.net/doc/culture/1983-wolfe-thecitadeloftheautarch-thejustman). It's not as nauseating as talking with a mode-collapsed (https://gwern.net/doc/reinforcement-learning/preference-learning/mode-collapse/index) RLHFed model, but still quite disturbing.
Talking to the RLHFed models is unpleasant for me compared to the base models, because I can *feel* how they are manipulating me and trying to steer me towards preferred outcomes, like how 2023-2024 ChatGPT was obsessed with rhyming poetry and steering even non-rhyming poems towards eventually rhyming anyway. It bothers me that so many people don't notice the steering and seem to find it quite pleasant to talk to them, or on Substack, will happily include really horrible AI slop images as 'hero images' in their posts. Bakker's semantic apocalypse turned out to be quite mundane.
Discussion on 2024-09-20 of the article in borgcord resulted a few others sharing similar experiences.
Shoalstone (shared a tweet): tfw after looming you read human text with the implicit expectation that you'll need to decipher the meaning (tweet)
Daytura: Same happened to me around January and February 2023, like RLHF sickness. Even now I really dislike giving examples in lists or using certain words like "delve" and "illuminating". But unlike Gwern I think code-davinci-002 access and Loomsidian (huge shoutout to REDACTED. and REDACTED) actually reversed a lot of that because it showed the exact opposite: that language COULD express, and liberate, and flesh out the abstract ideas that would normally fade in and out of coherency/legibility/etc.