But wait, Oxford says there’s a specific term for what might happen when you do just that. And it’s called Brain Rot. The world captures the major concerns linked to taking in extra amounts of low-quality content from the web. This is very true for social media.
The world saw a 230% rise from last year and now so it’s a serious issue.
As per one leading psychology expert and Oxford University professional, the term is a symptom of the era we live in. It ended up beating five other leading shortlisted terms such as demure and dynamic pricing.
When diving down deep to figure out what it means, we saw that its definition has to do with the deterioration of an individual’s mental state. It’s usually viewed as the consequence of taking in too much material that’s trivial or not challenging.
While the first use of this term was before the internet came into, we can confirm it dates back to 1854. This is where society’s ability to devalue complex data comes into play and how this could turn into an overall decline in mental efforts.
The word first became famous thanks to Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Now, it’s used on a mainstream level to describe poor quality and low-valued material seen on different social media platforms.
There is actually very little evidence of brain rot being a real thing, the professor says. But it’s a feeling of not being happy with the internet’s offerings. It gathers all the anxieties seen on social media.
The head of Oxford Languages mentioned how when we stare at the term of the year in the past 20 years, we can see society's growing preoccupation linked to virtual lives changing. It’s the way the internet culture works and taking in a lot of what we are and what we discuss.
Last year’s term, 'Rizz,' highlighted language designed to benefit online communities. This year’s term, however, serves as a warning about the growing dangers of virtual life. It underscores that how we spend our free time online can have real consequences, a reality now made evident by the term 'Brain Rot.
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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World
