There Is No Antimemetics Division
by qntm · first published 2008
71% recommend23% neutral6% critical
Why HN recommends it
Sci-fi horror built on antimemes, ideas that erase themselves from memory, and how you could fight such a threat. Quick, inventive and tense; suits readers who like mind-bending concepts, SCP fiction or Ra.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
(from back cover) An antimeme is an idea with self-censoring properties; an idea which, by its intrinsic nature, discourages or prevents people from spreading it. Antimemes are real. Think of any piece of information which you wouldn't share with anybody, like passwords, taboos and dirty secrets. Or any piece of information which would be difficult to share even if you tried: complex equations, very boring passages of text, large blocks of random numbers, and dreams... But anomalous antimemes are another matter entirely. How do you contain something you can't record or remember?
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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I really enjoyed There Is No Antimemetics Division. It's self published and is, as I understand it, a collection of the author's contributions to SCP [0]. Given that, my expectations about the quality of the writing were pretty low. But it way exceeded…
on “QNTM on memes, anti-memes, and knowledge that doesn't want to be shared” ↗It's a reference to this: http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/antimemetics-division-hub There Is No Antimemetics Division and its sequel Five Five Five Five Five are some of the best sci-fi stories I've ever read.
on “Are you hosting a memetic parasite?” ↗First time I read There Is No Antimemetics Division I immediately read it again. Now I read it if I'm waiting for a good book to show up. There's no other book that I can just read again and again and enjoy it.
on “QNTM on memes, anti-memes, and knowledge that doesn't want to be shared” ↗- A Fire Upon The Deep - Brave New World - The Dispossessed - The Sirens of Titan / Slaughterhouse 5 - Recursion - Exhalation - There Is No Antimemetics Division - Foundation Series
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?” ↗Qntm is the pen name of Sam Hughes, who writes science fiction. So I'm pretty sure this is fiction in the form of fake tweets, and that Google People didn't ever exist. Their book There Is No Antimemetics Division is pretty good but also a bit disturbing (in a good way).
on “Does anybody remember Google People” ↗There Is No Antimemetics Division is such a creative, page-turning, terrifying read and I'm glad it's getting the author some recognition from the big publishers. It's one of those books that keeps returning to my thoughts every so often…
on “There is no antimimetics division V2” ↗…strange and interesting noir detective story. * All Systems Red by Martha Wells. <3 Murderbot <3 * Desert Oracle Volume 1 by Ken Layne. American southwest folklore. Read it while in Joshua Tree. * There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm. Biggest brainfuck I've read in a long time, probably ever. * Fundamentals: Ten Keys To Reality by Frank Wilczek. Physics musings from a Nobel winner.
on “Books I Loved Reading in 2024” ↗I would love more people to know about science fiction strangecore author qntm: https://qntm.org/Self There Is No Antimemetics Division freaked me the hell out. Recommended.
on “Show HN: Books mentioned on Hacker News in 2025” ↗Speaking of memetics and favorite books, check out There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm who also wrote some seminal short stories including the one that inspired the Alex Garland show Devs. The book is about how to deal with beings that make you forget you ever saw then, a sort of…
on “LLMs as a Cognitive Virus” ↗As someone who used to read voraciously as a kid, and nearly stopped entirely as I burned out throughout school, There Is No Antimemetics Division, and later Ra by qntm got me back into reading by reminding me how satisfying science fiction can be. Antimemetics Division is a fantastic read if you're at all a fan of the SCP Wiki -- being the author…
on “Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?” ↗…interested in SCPs might enjoy http://www.scp-wiki.net/antimemetics-division-hub specifically -- it's a really cool series that plays around with knowledge and memory. In particular I really love the "There Is No Antimemetics Division (2015)" and "Five Five Five Five Five (2017–)" series. An antimeme is an idea with self-censoring properties; an idea which, by its intrinsic nature, discourages or prevents people from spreading it.…
on “Random SCP” ↗Do you have any recommendations for science fiction books that explore interesting ideas? There is no Antimemetics Division was really interesting in how some of the scenarios play out. I don't read much but I've been trying to do that more. I really liked the book. Things like the memory consuming entity, async research,…
on “Book Review: There Is No Antimemetics Division” ↗…recommended. If you'd like to support the author, you can buy it as an eBook from Amazon[0]. >This ebook collects all of my Antimemetics Division fiction: SCP-055, SCP-2256 and the complete serials There Is No Antimemetics Division and Five Five Five Five Five. [0]: https://www.amazon.in/qntm/e/B091P6ZQLW
on “SCP-055” ↗This short story might tickle your fancy. https://qntm.org/admin (I also highly recommend their book "There Is No Antimemetics Division" if you're at all interested in SCP Foundation)
on “Why can’t I go faster than the speed of light?” ↗…story of the remaining humans fighting back would be much more interesting. How can you defeat an enemy where learning too much about it makes you automatically lose?" See the stories under the heading "There Is No Antimemetics Division (2015)": http://www.scp-wiki.net/qntm-s-author-page It's part of a larger universe, but I think it suffices to point out that in the larger fictional universe in question, the organization that the website…
on “‘Story Of Your Life’ Is Not A Time-Travel Story” ↗