‘Mind rot’ was final yr’s Oxford English Dictionary ‘phrase of the yr’ (I imply, technically it’s two phrases however no matter), referring to the “supposed deterioration of an individual’s psychological or mental state, particularly considered on account of overconsumption of fabric (now notably on-line content material) thought of to be trivial or unchallenging.”
Mainly, it is what occurs once you fall down a TikTok scroll gap – or (my private poison) spend ten hours straight watching MAFS Australia. Many articles have been written about how consuming a lot web slop and horrible TV is making us kinda dumb, depressed, anxious and probably even infertile.
However is it true? Properly, I am personally unsure. On condition that we’re residing in a world the place horrible information is pinged into our lives at an alarming price, I discover that issues like The Kardashians or Gossip Woman (I am on my fiftieth re-run, WBU?) have a stunning soothing high quality that I couldn’t dwell with out. The very fact is, most issues that are written off as ‘mind rot’ content material, notably on TV, should not simply entertaining, they’re additionally a superb option to decompress.
TikTok specifically will get lots of flak as being a ‘mind rot’ exercise; and do not get me unsuitable, I am certain that if I climbed into mattress at evening and browse one of many many lots of (I am solely barely exaggerating right here) of books that I carry on my bedside desk, as an alternative of scrolling my FYP for 40 minutes, I would find yourself feeling more than happy with myself certainly. However truthfully, I’ve come to like my TikTok time. It’s sacred to me, a time which I’ve made clear to my boyfriend, I’m not to be disturbed. There’s simply one thing about with the ability to park my interior voice, even only for a short time, and eat one thing utterly passively that I’ve come to stay up for.
This entire factor, the place new know-how is written off as ‘rotting our brains’, is just not new. In actual fact, it goes way back to historical Greece – the thinker Socrates warned in opposition to writing as a result of it will “create forgetfulness within the learners’ souls, as a result of they won’t use their recollections.” In 2010, the neuropsychologist Vaughan Bell checked out many examples of ‘tech scares’, warning that the tendency to seek out new applied sciences traumatic or annoying was typically unrelated to how damaging they have been.
My private idea is that a part of the rationale this concept – that scrolling is making us all silly/ unhappy and so on – acquired a lot traction is due to a vibe shift the place being offline has grow to be a type of standing image. It was the model strategist Eugene Healy who referred to as IRL the “new standing image” in a video he made in regards to the post-brain rot period. “2024 noticed the luxurious trade get deeper into run golf equipment, guide golf equipment, pop-ups and activations,” he stated. “I’m predicting that that is going to drive an angle that spending extra time IRL is seen as a standing image, which conversely implies that being tech addicted will likely be seen as a low standing trait.”
In 2025, being tied to our telephones is immediately changing into type of uncool. So possibly it’s not that being on-line is dangerous for us, a lot as the truth that being offline is a type of flex (a lot of a flex that luxurious manufacturers wish to align themselves with this ‘standing image’ whereas the remainder of us
Nonetheless, I received’t deny that an hour of scrolling will in all probability depart anybody feeling torpid and dissatisfied. I attempt to set myself limits. There is a cause that saying about “an excessive amount of of a superb factor” exists. I be certain that to stay to my designated TikTok time and maintain my MAFS Australia consumption to an affordable quantity… properly, I’ll as quickly as this season finishes.
