I have not only been warned, but I have stared the basilisk in the eyes, and I'm still here typing about it.

This isn't evidence about that hypothesis, it's expected that most certainly nothing happens. Yet you write for rhetorical purposes as if it's supposed to be evidence against the hypothesis. This constitutes either lying or confusion (I expect it's unintentional lying, with phrases produced without conscious reflection about their meaning, so a little of both lying and confusion).