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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 al

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.

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.