Oxford University Press, those responsible for the Oxford English Dictionary (the equivalent of the Royal Spanish Academy) has been selecting a word or expression in English that reflects our planet for 20 years over the last 12 months. “If we look at the Oxford word of the year from the last two decades, we can see society’s growing concern about how our virtual lives are evolvingbecause of the way in which Internet culture is permeating much of who we are and what we talk about,” explains Casper Grathwohl, president of the organization in a statement.
Last year, the award went to “rizz,” an abbreviation for charisma in Gen Z slang. In 2022, it was “goblin mode,” which refers to “blatantly self-indulgent, lazy, disheveled or greedy” behavior. AND In 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine discourse, it was “vax.”
Following a public consultation, Oxford University Press announced its choice for 2024: the word is brain rot. This expression is defined as the “alleged deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially seen as a result of excessive consumption of material, particularly online content, considered trivial or unchallenging.”
“Brain rot speaks of one of the perceived dangers of virtual life and how we are using our free time – adds Grathwohl -. “It seems like a legitimate next chapter in the cultural conversation about humanity and technology.”
The first recorded use of “brain rot,” according to Oxford University Press, was in Waldenby Henry David Thoreau, published in 1854. “While England strives to cure the rot of the potato, shall no one endeavor to cure the rot of the brain, which prevails so much more widely and fatally?” Thoreau wrote in his treatise on Transcendentalism.
But, Is brain rot real? It is not a medically recognized condition, but it is a real phenomenon. Brain rot is caused by excessive use of technology. That may mean endlessly watching YouTube videos, scrolling through social media, or switching from one browser tab to another. The bottom line: we are overstimulating our brains.
Scrolling through social media platforms increases the neurochemical dopamine, which produces feelings of satisfaction and pleasure. The more we do it, the more we want to do it. Our brain associates displacement with a feeling of gratificationeven when you are aware of its negative consequences. In this way, displacement can become a behavioral addiction.
A study showed that doomscrolling (the compulsive practice of using your finger to “scroll” to new content) can lead to higher levels of psychological distress and lower levels of mental well-being.Other research found that people who have high levels of negative news consumption also have worse mental and even physical health.
For example, according to a study of 1,051 young adults between 18 and 27 years old, lSocial media addiction has a significant negative association with executive functioning skills such as planning, organization, problem solving, decision making and working memory.
Another aspect that brain rot affects is self-concept: As the number of social interactions skyrockets, the online world has become its own social universe, especially for young adults. The number of “friends,” “followers,” or “likes” you have is visible to everyone, making it easy to fall prey to the comparison trap.
Additionally, the bombardment of posts that boast about people’s career successes, exotic vacations, happy relationships, and perfect bodies (often digitally manipulated with filters) can lead to negative self-talk. The brain becomes so cluttered with confusion that young adults can’t help it. Constant overstimulation that prevents you from distinguishing truth from fiction. Self-esteem can be affected, leading to elevated levels of stress, anxiety and depression. And that is, in a nutshell, brain rot.