2024 has seen a flurry of trending slang like demure, delulu, manifest but brain rot takes the crown with Oxford naming it the Word of the Year for 2024. Are you guilty of scrolling through copious amounts of cheap, low-quality content that you’re fully aware of? It's like a strange guilty pleasure.
Whether it’s songs remixed with alpha slangs like
sigma, Skibidi Toilet, and rizz—which might as well feel like an alien
language, or videos with the most random plots; brain rot is all about being
consuming anything on your algorithm because you are all about doing it for the
plot.
Understanding
brain rot
Oxford defines brain rot as ‘the supposed
deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as
the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content)
considered to be trivial or unchallenging.’
Dr Mehta elaborated on this and explained, “As the
name itself suggests the brain starts getting ‘rotten’ which means the brain is
unable to produce new ideas or apply intelligence to situations or do difficult
tasks independently and so on.” Such low-quality content demands little mental
effort and drives the spiral of passive consumption. A sort of inertia develops
from this passive, low-energy consumption, where you don't have to think.
Consequences
of brain rot
But it’s not all rosy and rad when you indulge in
brain rot regularly. Dr Mehta explained, “As the saying goes 'as the company so
the colour', similarly when a person is absorbed in low-quality content of
digital media the person becomes incapable of generating high-quality thoughts
or thinking independently. The individual tends to take help of the gadgets
even for similar tasks for example children taking help of calculator while performing
even simple mathematical calculation.”
This mental dependency goes beyond simple
entertainment and can affect critical and creative thinking, as well as the
ability to process information independently. Individuals begin to rely on
digital media more frequently as a way to avoid mental effort, further getting
wrapped up in this passive consumption. This creates an unhealthy dependency,
as Dr Mehta pointed out, leading to a reduction in critical thinking or doing
even the simplest tasks.
Managing
brain rot
Just because everyone’s hyping up a certain type of
content doesn’t mean you have to hop on the bandwagon. Everything on the
internet is often a fleeting fad that eventually fizzles out, but in the
process, it can harm your mental wellbeing.
Dr Mehta suggested, “The screen can be used for
professional as well as non-professional purposes. It is the non-professional
or non-academic use which is causing the brain rot. The solution lies in the
controlled use of screen time or digital medium. Fix a time slot for its
non-professional you. Use alarms or external clues to limit its use. Involve
yourself in non-screen rejuvenation activities like meeting friends, pursuing
hobbies, going to the gym etc. Keep a particular time free of gadgets like make
a habit of having a device-free dinner where the families sit together from the
time till serving the food till four dinner walk and during this time there
should be no use of any gadgets.”
Reclaim your digital consumption by being mindful of
what you consume and how much you consume. Brain rot and everything is all fun
in good name but it’s important to be careful with how much you indulge it.
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