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>‘Brain rot’ is defined as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of materia

>‘Brain rot’ is defined 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. Also: something characterized as likely to lead to such deterioration”. Trivial / unchallenging is not the problem, in my opinion. Sometimes it's good to relax and give yourself a break. Staring at the wall and letting your mind wander is trivial and unchallenging, but it's not going to rot your brain. The problem is overstimulating shortform content that wrecks your attention span. But I don't believe super-longform content is necessarily the solution, either. If you force yourself to think about the same thing for too long, it effectively becomes work, and generates the same sort of mental fatigue. That's sort of pointless if you're trying to relax and recover. I think it's best to aim for a sweet spot of "unchallenging and also understimulating".

vasco 2y ago
The word doesn't have to be right, it's just what it means. > I think it's best to aim for a sweet spot of "unchallenging and also understimulating". Press 'X' for Doubt.
- 0xDEAFBEAD 2y ago
  What do you do to relax?
  - asyx 2y ago
    Not the person you replied to but most of the things I do in my free time are somewhat challenging and stimulating. Programming on something that is very new to me and outside of what I do in my job, a challenging video game, hobbies that do involve my computer (got into 3d modeling a while ago) and hobbies that don’t involve my computer (leather working as of quite recently). I also used to learn languages for fun but I figured out really quickly that I like linguistics more than languages so I can be a real smart ass about grammar in various languages but couldn’t order a beer in most of them. I get really annoyed and in a really bad mood if I just watched a movie after work and went to bed. Or just hung out with people. I don’t feel like I got that itch taken care of if I don’t get an hour or so at night for the side projects. Oh and none of this is monetized. I can and do drop projects as soon as they get boring.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
downWidOutaFite 2y ago
Just do what we've done since the dawn of time: hang out with friends and family, prepare and eat food together, maybe play card or board games. It feels good and it's good for you.
- theclansman 2y ago
  That's actually not that easy to do when people are expected to be living alone at a certain age. Finding a partner could be good for you but that's also not so simple. I think most people would prefer hanging out with others rather than scrolling tik tok (you might enjoy alone activities but tik tok scrolling comes out of boredom), but sometimes they have no choice. It's like the way we live is pointing us specifically in that direction, at least by default.
  - InsideOutSanta 2y ago
    You don't need to be in a relationship to hang out with people. I think the issue most people encounter is that hanging out with friends suddenly gets a lot more difficult after education ends. The people you meet at work are less likely to become close friends than the people you meet at school, and as people get older, they have more responsibilities that take up their spare time, and fewer options to just spontaneously hang out. In addition, traditionally, men tend to rely on their partner for non-professional social networking. The percentage of people who live with a spouse or partner seems to be decreasing, so men are becoming more responsible for maintaining their own circle of friends. This requires effort. It's not like when you're 18 and you just naturally hang out, you have to put work into maintaining friendships and finding ways to meet. You have to plan things and invite people. You also have to make new friends as old ones disappear from your life over time. This is difficult, it requires conscious effort. I didn't realize that for a long time, and the longer I didn't do it, the harder it became to reestablish old friendships and make new ones. But it's absolutely possible to do it, if you put in the effort. And it's very worthwhile. It's much more enjoyable and fulfilling and relaxing to cook with somebody, go for a walk, or play Mario Kart in person, than to scroll Instagram or play an online shooter.
  - HappMacDonald 2y ago
viraptor 2y ago
I don't think you necessarily disagree with the definition. You mentioned "Sometimes", while they explicitly said "overconsumption". Most things are ok in moderation, including stupid relaxing.
- automatic6131 2y ago
  >Most things are ok in moderation, including stupid relaxing For real. Sometimes, I think that the binary nature of language, things are either good or bad, there is no single word to describe n-shape dose responses except in aphorisms like "too much of a good thing", means that it's too easy to autopilot into thing A is either good for you, or bad for you. One beer with friends is good for you but ten is not. The optimal amount is somewhere between (it's slightly less than 2).
- SebastianKra 2y ago
  I think what the definition fails to capture is the addiction-like behavior that this specific kind of content can induce. You feel yourself getting more tired and frustrated by the minute, yet you don't stop.
  - lupusreal 2y ago
    Its a definition, not an encyclopedia article or something. The definition of alcoholism probably doesn't go into the ways people fall into alcoholism either.
ukFxqnLa2sBSBf6 2y ago
Is there actually any evidence that an “attention span” can be affected in any way? I’m not knowledgeable about any psychological studies on this topic. My instinct says that young people consume short form content because that’s their preference. I’m sure they’re also still capable of like watching a movie.
- fxwin 2y ago
  All i've really got is personal anecdotes, but i've noticed that excessive scrolling (~consuming short form/attention grabbing content) in the evening/morning correlates negatively with my ability to focus on longer, less dopamine-rewarding tasks. This usually goes away after a few days of reducing said behaviors, so it seems at least mostly temporary (the same might not be true in teenagers or younger)
- nunodonato 2y ago
  they watch a movie AND their instagram/tiktok feed at the same time
  - thaumasiotes 2y ago
    Yes, I'm not so sure that they are capable of watching a movie. I tried to watch TV with my sister and failed because she spent the time looking at her phone.
  - Temporary_31337 2y ago
    No such thing as multitasking. You just context switching frequently so any movie with any depth to the story will be hard to follow this way
- indigo945 2y ago
  Yes, there is. (Mind you, I'm not a psychologist, this is just from a quick online search.) There's a study from 2012 linking social media usage to reduced academic performance and a lowered attention span [1]. A recent study has shown that excessive TikTok use in particular is linked to short-term memory deterioration [2]. I assume this is a somewhat trendy field of research in psychology, so you can likely find more studies, should you want to. [1]: Paul, Baker et al (2012): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563212001665?via%3Dihub https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S07475... [2]: Sha, Dong (2021): https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8820 https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8820
libertine 2y ago
I think you're referring to another phenomenon that leads mostly to apathy. "Brain rot" as it's described leads to a change in perception, and I wonder if it also changes beliefs. "Brain rot" seems to be linked with the repeated consumption of, for example, unchallenged propaganda. It encourages people to think they made some huge insightful breakthroughs, and that they have some new undisputed understanding of reality, when in reality they just have a superficial knowledge of someone else's idea. Which sometimes is amplified by someone repeating someone else's ideas. Yet they refuse to either acknowledge or question it. For example, unlike general perception, conspiracy theories aren't that complex, they're much simpler than reality and more entertaining - as an anecdote it's much simpler to think the moon landing was done in a Hollywood studio than to understand the endeavor taken to achieve this milestone for Humanity. This leads to people dismissing reality in favor of fantasy, leading to algorithmic thinking, which is just a lazy cognitive process. If you challenge this, you'll be ignored or dismissed. All for the aesthetic of being an intellectual.
- 0xDEAFBEAD 2y ago
  >It encourages people to think they made some huge insightful breakthroughs, and that they have some new undisputed understanding of reality, when in reality they just have a superficial knowledge of someone else's idea. Which sometimes is amplified by someone repeating someone else's ideas. Yet they refuse to either acknowledge or question it. This could also describe a mediocre student reading a mediocre physics textbook. I'm not sure consumption of propaganda is qualitatively different from consumption of non-propaganda.
  - libertine 2y ago
    > This could also describe a mediocre student reading a mediocre physics textbook. I think you're being too generous. It's more like a mediocre student listening to someone's take on a mediocre physics textbook and believing now that he knows how the world works. The difference between the consumption of propaganda and non-propaganda, is related to the perception of everyday events and the consequences of it. In your mediocre student example, his unacknowledged poor understanding of physics won't have much consequences, he can try to lecture people, and he can go about the world and unless he tries to defy laws of physics there won't be much to it - like a "flat earth believer" can have a boat ride and not fall off the earth. Propaganda, on the other hand, changes your perception of reality and the way you interact with society and institutions. Suddenly, a normal election process is rigged because your side lost, or the normal vaccination process is now harmful to you and your peers.
blueflow 2y ago
It does not matter what the actual effect of this type of content is - it makes people feel in a specific way, so they started using "brainrot" to describe what they are feeling.

vasco 2y ago

The word doesn't have to be right, it's just what it means. > I think it's best to aim for a sweet spot of "unchallenging and also understimulating". Press 'X' for Doubt.

0xDEAFBEAD 2y ago
What do you do to relax?
- asyx 2y ago
  Not the person you replied to but most of the things I do in my free time are somewhat challenging and stimulating. Programming on something that is very new to me and outside of what I do in my job, a challenging video game, hobbies that do involve my computer (got into 3d modeling a while ago) and hobbies that don’t involve my computer (leather working as of quite recently). I also used to learn languages for fun but I figured out really quickly that I like linguistics more than languages so I can be a real smart ass about grammar in various languages but couldn’t order a beer in most of them. I get really annoyed and in a really bad mood if I just watched a movie after work and went to bed. Or just hung out with people. I don’t feel like I got that itch taken care of if I don’t get an hour or so at night for the side projects. Oh and none of this is monetized. I can and do drop projects as soon as they get boring.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

downWidOutaFite 2y ago

Just do what we've done since the dawn of time: hang out with friends and family, prepare and eat food together, maybe play card or board games. It feels good and it's good for you.

theclansman 2y ago
That's actually not that easy to do when people are expected to be living alone at a certain age. Finding a partner could be good for you but that's also not so simple. I think most people would prefer hanging out with others rather than scrolling tik tok (you might enjoy alone activities but tik tok scrolling comes out of boredom), but sometimes they have no choice. It's like the way we live is pointing us specifically in that direction, at least by default.
- InsideOutSanta 2y ago
  You don't need to be in a relationship to hang out with people. I think the issue most people encounter is that hanging out with friends suddenly gets a lot more difficult after education ends. The people you meet at work are less likely to become close friends than the people you meet at school, and as people get older, they have more responsibilities that take up their spare time, and fewer options to just spontaneously hang out. In addition, traditionally, men tend to rely on their partner for non-professional social networking. The percentage of people who live with a spouse or partner seems to be decreasing, so men are becoming more responsible for maintaining their own circle of friends. This requires effort. It's not like when you're 18 and you just naturally hang out, you have to put work into maintaining friendships and finding ways to meet. You have to plan things and invite people. You also have to make new friends as old ones disappear from your life over time. This is difficult, it requires conscious effort. I didn't realize that for a long time, and the longer I didn't do it, the harder it became to reestablish old friendships and make new ones. But it's absolutely possible to do it, if you put in the effort. And it's very worthwhile. It's much more enjoyable and fulfilling and relaxing to cook with somebody, go for a walk, or play Mario Kart in person, than to scroll Instagram or play an online shooter.
- HappMacDonald 2y ago

viraptor 2y ago

I don't think you necessarily disagree with the definition. You mentioned "Sometimes", while they explicitly said "overconsumption". Most things are ok in moderation, including stupid relaxing.

automatic6131 2y ago
>Most things are ok in moderation, including stupid relaxing For real. Sometimes, I think that the binary nature of language, things are either good or bad, there is no single word to describe n-shape dose responses except in aphorisms like "too much of a good thing", means that it's too easy to autopilot into thing A is either good for you, or bad for you. One beer with friends is good for you but ten is not. The optimal amount is somewhere between (it's slightly less than 2).
SebastianKra 2y ago
I think what the definition fails to capture is the addiction-like behavior that this specific kind of content can induce. You feel yourself getting more tired and frustrated by the minute, yet you don't stop.
- lupusreal 2y ago
  Its a definition, not an encyclopedia article or something. The definition of alcoholism probably doesn't go into the ways people fall into alcoholism either.

ukFxqnLa2sBSBf6 2y ago

Is there actually any evidence that an “attention span” can be affected in any way? I’m not knowledgeable about any psychological studies on this topic. My instinct says that young people consume short form content because that’s their preference. I’m sure they’re also still capable of like watching a movie.

fxwin 2y ago
All i've really got is personal anecdotes, but i've noticed that excessive scrolling (~consuming short form/attention grabbing content) in the evening/morning correlates negatively with my ability to focus on longer, less dopamine-rewarding tasks. This usually goes away after a few days of reducing said behaviors, so it seems at least mostly temporary (the same might not be true in teenagers or younger)
nunodonato 2y ago
they watch a movie AND their instagram/tiktok feed at the same time
- thaumasiotes 2y ago
  Yes, I'm not so sure that they are capable of watching a movie. I tried to watch TV with my sister and failed because she spent the time looking at her phone.
- Temporary_31337 2y ago
  No such thing as multitasking. You just context switching frequently so any movie with any depth to the story will be hard to follow this way
indigo945 2y ago
Yes, there is. (Mind you, I'm not a psychologist, this is just from a quick online search.) There's a study from 2012 linking social media usage to reduced academic performance and a lowered attention span [1]. A recent study has shown that excessive TikTok use in particular is linked to short-term memory deterioration [2]. I assume this is a somewhat trendy field of research in psychology, so you can likely find more studies, should you want to. [1]: Paul, Baker et al (2012): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563212001665?via%3Dihub https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S07475... [2]: Sha, Dong (2021): https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8820 https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8820

libertine 2y ago

I think you're referring to another phenomenon that leads mostly to apathy. "Brain rot" as it's described leads to a change in perception, and I wonder if it also changes beliefs. "Brain rot" seems to be linked with the repeated consumption of, for example, unchallenged propaganda. It encourages people to think they made some huge insightful breakthroughs, and that they have some new undisputed understanding of reality, when in reality they just have a superficial knowledge of someone else's idea. Which sometimes is amplified by someone repeating someone else's ideas. Yet they refuse to either acknowledge or question it. For example, unlike general perception, conspiracy theories aren't that complex, they're much simpler than reality and more entertaining - as an anecdote it's much simpler to think the moon landing was done in a Hollywood studio than to understand the endeavor taken to achieve this milestone for Humanity. This leads to people dismissing reality in favor of fantasy, leading to algorithmic thinking, which is just a lazy cognitive process. If you challenge this, you'll be ignored or dismissed. All for the aesthetic of being an intellectual.

0xDEAFBEAD 2y ago
>It encourages people to think they made some huge insightful breakthroughs, and that they have some new undisputed understanding of reality, when in reality they just have a superficial knowledge of someone else's idea. Which sometimes is amplified by someone repeating someone else's ideas. Yet they refuse to either acknowledge or question it. This could also describe a mediocre student reading a mediocre physics textbook. I'm not sure consumption of propaganda is qualitatively different from consumption of non-propaganda.
- libertine 2y ago
  > This could also describe a mediocre student reading a mediocre physics textbook. I think you're being too generous. It's more like a mediocre student listening to someone's take on a mediocre physics textbook and believing now that he knows how the world works. The difference between the consumption of propaganda and non-propaganda, is related to the perception of everyday events and the consequences of it. In your mediocre student example, his unacknowledged poor understanding of physics won't have much consequences, he can try to lecture people, and he can go about the world and unless he tries to defy laws of physics there won't be much to it - like a "flat earth believer" can have a boat ride and not fall off the earth. Propaganda, on the other hand, changes your perception of reality and the way you interact with society and institutions. Suddenly, a normal election process is rigged because your side lost, or the normal vaccination process is now harmful to you and your peers.

blueflow 2y ago

It does not matter what the actual effect of this type of content is - it makes people feel in a specific way, so they started using "brainrot" to describe what they are feeling.