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BRAIN
ROT

Liviu Poenaru, Dec. 9, 2024


 

The Oxford University Press's selection of "brain rot" as the Word of the Year for 2024 is a poignant reflection of contemporary societal concerns regarding the pervasive influence of digital media on cognitive health. Defined as the deterioration of mental or intellectual faculties due to excessive consumption of trivial or unchallenging online content, the term encapsulates the anxieties surrounding the omnipresence of superficial digital stimuli. However, this concern extends beyond mere superficiality; it also encompasses the addictive nature of endless scrolling across the vast array of online content.

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The resurgence of the term "brain rot," first utilized by Henry David Thoreau in Walden (1854), reflects a deep-seated critique of mindless consumption and intellectual decay that Thoreau associated with the distractions of modernity, even in his time. In Walden, Thoreau lamented the effects of unreflective reading and superficial engagement with newspapers and popular culture, which he saw as eroding the capacity for meaningful thought and self-reliance. His use of "brain rot" was a metaphor for the mental stagnation and spiritual emptiness he believed arose from overexposure to trivial pursuits, a concern eerily prescient in today's context of digital overload and incessant scrolling. Thoreau's critique situates the term within a broader philosophical resistance to the encroachments of superficiality on the deeper, contemplative life—a theme that continues to resonate in contemporary debates about the effects of technology on cognition and intellectual well-being.

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In Walden, Thoreau asked: "While England endeavors to cure the potato-rot, will not any endeavor to cure the brain-rot, which prevails so much more widely and fatally?"​ The term has gained significant traction among Generation Z and Generation Alpha, who often use it to describe the mind-numbing effects of incessant exposure to low-quality online content.

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Empirical research substantiates these concerns, indicating that prolonged internet use can adversely affect cognitive functions, particularly attention and memory. A study by the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center suggests that excessive internet use may impair the brain's ability to focus on specific tasks for extended periods, leading to diminished attention spans and short-term memory capabilities. Furthermore, neuroscientific investigations reveal that individuals with internet addiction disorder exhibit structural changes in brain regions associated with cognitive control and executive function, paralleling alterations observed in substance addiction.

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The phenomenon of "brain rot" is not merely a colloquial expression but reflects a tangible shift in cognitive processing. The internet's design, characterized by rapid information flow and constant notifications, fosters a fragmented attention span, thereby undermining deep, contemplative thought. This environment encourages multitasking, which has been shown to engage the striatum—a brain region linked to habitual and procedural learning—over the hippocampus, which is vital for declarative memory and focused attention. Consequently, individuals may become more adept at skimming information but less capable of sustained concentration and critical analysis.

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Thus, the phenomenon of "brain rot" exemplifies a shift toward cognitive processes that prioritize speed, repetition, and superficiality—characteristics that align with the demands of a hyper-connected digital economy. The emphasis on multitasking and fragmented attention underpins an economy of distraction, where the subpersonal level is optimized for efficiency rather than depth.

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This subpersonal level, driven by procedural and habitual learning mediated by the striatum, bypasses, as suggested before, the hippocampus's role in conscious, declarative memory and reflective thought. It reinforces automatic, unconscious patterns of interaction with technology, effectively reducing the potential for psychological elaboration, which requires reflective engagement and sustained attention. In this sense, cybercapitalism thrives on creating environments where users' responses are conditioned by repetitive, dopamine-driven stimuli, such as likes, notifications, and endless scrolling. These stimuli shape behaviors at a subpersonal level, anchoring users into predictable, profitable engagement loops.

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By privileging immediate gratification and habitual engagement, these mechanisms undermine the development of a fully integrated subject capable of critical thought and self-reflection. This mirrors what Bernard Stiegler referred to as "symbolic misery," where the colonization of attention and the destruction of long-term memory diminish the capacity for individuation and collective social elaboration.

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This phenomenon also raises profound ethical concerns. If psychological elaboration and reflective thinking are systematically eroded, individuals may become less capable of resisting the ideological underpinnings of the systems that exploit them. The subpersonal level, precisely because it operates below the threshold of conscious awareness, is less accessible to critical interrogation or psychoanalytic interpretation. This creates a form of cognitive alienation where individuals are dissociated from their capacity for intentional agency.

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The notion of "brain rot" can be interpreted as a manifestation of the "economic unconscious" (Poenaru, 2023), intricately linked to the dynamics of the neuro-cognitive-behavioral complex. This complex, deeply interwoven with the mechanisms of neuro-nanomarketing and its environmental devices, illuminates how economic systems exploit core dimensions of human cognition—perception, memory, decision-making, and emotions—to perpetuate cycles of consumption and control. The trivializing and addictive patterns associated with "brain rot" are not random but are orchestrated by an economic agenda that programs our neuro-cognitive-behavioral futures through emotionally charged and memory-embedded stimuli.

 

Artificial intelligence, operating as an agent of this unconscious, subtly conditions behaviors by embedding perceptual-mnesic traces that override individual autonomy, reinforcing stimulus-response dynamics central to the conditioning mechanisms of capitalism. This process creates a form of neurobiological alienation where human sensitivity and decision-making are recalibrated toward virtuality and ubiquitous consumption. Thus, "brain rot" emerges not only as cognitive stagnation but also as a symptom of the deeper irrational logic of capitalism, reshaping temporal and spatial relations and imposing a compulsive, future-oriented focus that stifles reflective autonomy and critical thought.

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The selection of "brain rot" as the Word of the Year serves as a cultural mirror, reflecting the collective unease about the digital landscape's impact on mental acuity. It prompts a critical examination of how digital consumption patterns shape cognitive health and societal well-being. 

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The ascendancy of "brain rot" in contemporary discourse underscores the urgent need to reassess our relationship with digital media. By fostering a more deliberate and informed engagement with technology, society can aspire to preserve and enhance cognitive health in the digital era.

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GO FURTHER!

Time Magazine

Time Magazine - Brain Rot as Word of the Year 2024

 

Wikipedia

Wikipedia - Brain Rot

 

Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

Wexner Medical Center - Internet's Impact on the Brain

 

Psychological Effects of Internet Use

Wikipedia - Psychological Effects of Internet Use

 

Social Media and Psychology

Wikipedia - Social Media and Psychology

 

How the Internet may be changing the brain: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/06/190605100345.htm      

 

The Guardian

Is doom scrolling really rotting our brains? The evidence is getting harder to ignore

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Poenaru, L. (2023). Inconscient économique. Paris: L'Harmattan.

We have been conditioned and imprinted, much like Pavlov's dogs and Lorenz's geese, to mostly unconscious economic stimuli, which have become a global consensus and a global source of diseases.

Poenaru, West: An Autoimmune Disease?

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