‘Brain rot’: When memes affect our intellectual capacities

If your vocabulary and conversational topics are dominated by Internet references, you may be suffering from “brain rot”. This unglamorous term has been coined to describe a host of specific negative effects on our mental state linked to heavy social media use.

The term “brain rot” is used to describe a phenomenon linked to a tendency to overly rely on, absorb and mention information found on the web, to the point of constantly referencing it in real-life conversations. As a result of being inundated with millions of pieces of information, users are less inclined to solve problems or come up with creative ideas on their own, thus essentially allowing their “brain to rot”.

“Brain rot” is closely linked with the proliferation and overuse of memes. Popularised in particular by the now-defunct short-form video platform Vine, memes are now all the rage on TikTok and social media networks. These references to phrases, or simply oral and facial expressions, are often evoked by web users in their everyday lives to react to situations. And by being online on social media for hours on end, some users find that they have a tendency to use such references in their offline conversations as well.

While the phenomenon may seem amusing, it is actually quite concerning as it can be indicative of intellectual decline, according to Dr Neil Jeyasingam, a psychiatrist and professor at Australian National University: “The idea of indulging and absorbing large amounts of irrelevant, low-quality information that is thought to be associated with deteriorating functioning and a loss of intelligence, hence the brain rot,” he explained to SBS News.

“When you are repeatedly exposed to media in a particular field, in a particular vein or a particular situation, you tend to associate other things with that,” he added.

By constantly using online references in their conversations, users run the risk of losing their ability to express their own original thoughts and have meaningful discussions. This reliance on memes can lead to a loss of creativity, originality and critical thinking.

On TikTok, one user demonstrated the effect of “brain rot” in a video. Upon recognising the cover of a Norman Mailer book in a library – specifically The Naked And The Dead, which featured an illustration known as “That 2,000-Yard Stare” – he was surprised to see this image out of an online context.

This illustration, created by artist Tom Lea in 1944, depicts an American soldier who has witnessed the horrors of war. It has given rise to a popular online meme, known as “1000 Yard Stare”, used to express a sense of trauma or regret after seeing a post on social networks.

Josh Lunch Box’s video quickly racked up millions of views and thousands of comments. Some users were surprised to discover that the meme was based on a real image and would have been terrified to see it outside their screen.

Others shared similar experiences, where their minds had interpreted real-world objects or events from an online perspective: “my first brain rot was when i tried swiping a physical page like it was a touch screen, I’m still embarrassed,” commented a user.

So is it all bad? Well, it’s not so simple. According to Jeyasingam, the brain rot phenomenon is not necessarily positive or negative.

Our brains work in such a way that we enjoy content such as memes and games because they’re fun: “What happens when you watch a meme or when you read a meme? For the most part, nothing. But the reason why we do it is that they’re kind of entertaining, they are fun to look at, which is why we keep on indulging in them,” he outlined to SBS News.

“And because they were amusing, there is a positive emotional connection with them, which means that bang, they (go) straight inside the head, which is why you find it so much easier to absorb stuff if you’re being entertained.”

However, the psychiatrist warns that intellectual deterioration can become a risk if people exclusively consume a certain type of content.

“A simple analogy would be, you could probably have a diet of just chocolate, but you wouldn’t get very far even though chocolate tastes really good….a balanced diet may not be as much fun, but you’re definitely going to get a lot further in terms of your health and satisfaction and growth and development.” – AFP Relaxnews