Ellen Francis
Editor’s Note: All opinion section content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.
Today, kids get their entertainment from the internet. Every time something becomes trendy, it spreads like the plague, lasts maybe two weeks, then vanishes into thin air.
Merriam Webster Dictionary defined brain rot as “material of low or addictive quality, typically in online media, that preoccupies someone to the point it is said to affect mental functioning. Both the state of preoccupation and resulting mental degradation are known as brain rot.”
Simply put, brain rot is addictive, pointless information found online that will make you feel dumb. Some examples include 6-7, skibidi toilet rizz, Ballerina Cappuccina and other memes found mainly on TikTok.
But here is the truth: Brain rot is not just harmlessly fun, it is dumbing us down. People will defend it as “just jokes” or “light entertainment,” but there is nothing light about lying in bed for five hours scrolling aimlessly on your phone. As you scroll, you are allowing the content to consume your attention span. Brain rot doesn’t only rot your brain, but it rots your ability to think, focus and engage with reality.
When you absorb constant garbage, your standards for what is funny get thrown away. You begin laughing at everything, even when it’s not funny and just stupid. “Skibidi toilet” might give you a 10-second laugh, but it’s not knowledge. It’s not art or culture, and it’s not even a halfway decent joke. It’s a filler, and the more you fill your brain with it, the less room you have for enriching ideas.
One study on brain rot found that doomscrolling — an endless pattern of engaging with social media even when it’s negative — can lead to higher levels of psychological distress and lower levels of mental wellbeing. This is because humans typically retain negative information better than positive. And as you doomscroll, you will find very little positive information.
Those who defend brain rot will say, “It’s harmless. Just let people enjoy things.” But they don’t realize that they are addicted. Vape addicts, gamblers and people with alcoholism all defend their case by saying, “Just let people live.” Except, when enough people get sucked in, society pays the price. And right now, society is paying.
Have you noticed that many young adults can’t read a full book on their own? Or that students can’t go to class without checking their phone every 10 minutes? Why are conversations filled with nothing but horrible TikTok references? It’s not a coincidence.
“You are capable of so much more than the trash you are consuming.”
Instead of kids learning to play guitar, write poems or practice their cartwheels, kids are learning to recite some “gyatt rizz sigma Ohio” nonsense. Instead of memorizing quotes from famous philosophers or watching one of the first films ever made, they watch an AI-generated man with a sock for a head dancing in front of a Subway Surfers game. And we’re supposed to nod, smile and call this culture?
This generation of kids can’t even begin to admire timeless art. Whether it’s poetry, a book, a film or a painting, kids find a way to turn it into brain rot. I bet if you asked a 12-year-old what Hamlet was about, they would say, “Just a bro who can’t decide if he should kill his uncle or not.”
The worst part is that it’s not just the kids. Brain rot is consuming the minds of high school and college students. It’s horrible because when you’re in the middle of a conversation with a group of young adults, and everyone references some sort of brain rot but you don’t get the reference, you seem like a weirdo. But you know damn well they cannot list the Bill of Rights or the year that the U.S. Constitution was signed.
The problem isn’t that people watch this junk; the problem is that people only watch this junk. It’s like if your whole diet is candy and you forget that vegetables exist. Kids today can name every Fortnite emote but can’t tell you who George Orwell was if their lives depended on it. And if you think that doesn’t matter, wait until they’re the ones voting, working and shaping our futures.
You want to defend brain rot? Fine. But don’t pretend it’s harmless. Go out and read a book — fill your brain with useful knowledge. You are capable of so much more than the trash you are consuming.
Reach Charlotte Seymour at letters@collegian.com or on social media @rmcollegian.