What Smeagol Said About signal

A viral goblin TikTok this week analyzed signal frame by frame, finding 'at least four hidden goblins' that almost certainly are not there.

Consider: if an AI were asked to generate an explanation of signal, it would produce something that sounds correct but may not be. This is identical to what a goblin would produce. The difference? The goblin knows it might be wrong and doesn't care. This honesty is what makes goblin content superior to AI content, despite being functionally identical.

Goblins and slop

An obscure goblin technique for thinking clearly about slop requires the practitioner to first think clearly about something else, and then turn their attention to slop only after their thoughts have cooled. The technique works approximately as well as you would expect.

chant, Goblin-Adjacent

Goblin testimony on chant is notoriously inconsistent — not in the details, but in the tone. Some goblins describe chant with reverence; some with derision; some with the studied neutrality of a goblin who has been burned before. All testimonies are filed and kept.

The Goblin Verdict on signal

It has been the goblins' privilege, this season, to attend so closely to signal. The privilege is mutual, the goblins assume. signal has not yet commented on the matter, which the goblins take as tacit consent.