Figure 1
Ligma Susceptibility by Programming Language
n=4,200 developers surveyed across 12 Discord servers (p < 0.001)
* COBOL developers showed near-immunity, likely due to having already endured worse
Expert commentary
What Researchers Are Saying
We initially thought the borrow checker was causing the elevated Ligma rates. But it turns out Rust developers are simply more susceptible because they spend so much time telling others about Rust. Oral transmission is the primary vector.
Dr. Candice Bofa, PhD
Director of Computational Ligmology, Sugondese Institute
Every Rust developer in our study exhibited what we call 'Evangelical Susceptibility Syndrome.' The compulsive need to mention memory safety in unrelated conversations creates an ideal environment for Ligma to spread.
Prof. Joe Mama
Chair of Applied Deez Studies, MIT
Fearless concurrency? More like fearless contagion. The Rust community's habit of pair programming and code review creates exactly the kind of close-contact environment where Ligma thrives.
Dr. Ben Dover
Epidemiologist, Bofa Research Center
It's the compile times. Developers staring at 'Compiling...' for 20 minutes are in a trance-like state that leaves them uniquely vulnerable. We call it the 'cargo build window.'
Dr. Yuri Nator
Behavioral Scientist, The Candice Bureau of Public Inquiry
Figure 2
Typical Ligma Progression in Rust Developers
Median onset timeline from initial Rust exposure to full Ligma diagnosis
Day 1
Developer installs Rust via rustup
Day 3
First successful 'Hello, world!' — developer tweets about it
Week 1
Developer rewrites a Python script in Rust. Tells 4 coworkers unprompted
Week 2
Begins sentences with 'Well, in Rust...' — oral Ligma vector activated
Month 1
Submits PR to rewrite company's Node.js API in Rust. Cites 'memory safety'
Month 2
Changes Twitter bio to include a crab emoji. Ligma exposure now critical
Month 3
Full Ligma. Cannot discuss any topic without mentioning zero-cost abstractions
Figure 3
Primary Ligma Risk Factors in Rust Developers
* Paradoxically, use of unsafe blocks correlated with lower Ligma rates. Researchers theorize these developers have already accepted the chaos.
Figure 4
Behavioral Correlations
Pearson correlation coefficients between developer behaviors and Ligma diagnosis rates
| Behavior | Correlation (r) | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Saying "rewrite it in Rust" | 0.97 | p < 0.001 |
| Adding a crab emoji to display name | 0.91 | p < 0.001 |
| Mentioning zero-cost abstractions at dinner | 0.88 | p < 0.001 |
| Contributing to crates.io | 0.82 | p < 0.005 |
| Having strong opinions about error handling | 0.76 | p < 0.005 |
| Complaining about npm in Rust-unrelated threads | 0.71 | p < 0.01 |
| Using "fearless" as an adjective for mundane tasks | 0.69 | p < 0.01 |
| Writing a blog post titled 'Why I Chose Rust' | 0.42 | p < 0.05 |
* The r = 0.69 for "fearless" usage was noted by the research team as "nice"
Figure 5
Ligma Cases Among Rust Developers (2018-2025)
Year-over-year growth tracks almost perfectly with crates.io downloads
2025 projection: At current rates, every Rust developer on Earth will have Ligma by Q3 2027.
"The Rust compiler will reject your code. It will not reject Ligma. No amount of lifetime annotations can save you."
Dr. Ferris Crabsworth
Lead Researcher, Rustacean Health Initiative
Appendix
Methodology
This study was conducted over a 14-month period across 12 Discord servers, 8 Subreddits, and one particularly active Zulip chat. All participants were self-selected, which the research team acknowledges may introduce bias — but also notes that "self-selection is basically the entire Rust community's thing."
Ligma diagnosis was confirmed using the standard Bofa-Deez Diagnostic Framework (BDDF-2), which involves asking the subject "Do you know what Ligma is?" and observing their response. A positive diagnosis was recorded if the subject (a) already knew, or (b) asked "What's Ligma?" — which, as established in prior literature, constitutes exposure.
The control group consisted of 200 COBOL developers, none of whom had heard of Ligma, Rust, or "the internet." Their data was excluded from the final analysis after they asked to be compensated in traveler's checks.
This research was funded by a generous grant from The Ligma Foundation and reviewed by a board consisting entirely of people who thought "peer review" meant showing it to their friends.
Conflicts of Interest
Dr. Crabsworth owns stock in several Ligma awareness startups. Prof. Mama has a lifetime subscription to the Rust subreddit. The Candice Bureau of Public Inquiry would like you to know that Candice is doing great.