How can I tell if my toilet is skibidi? What makes something “so Julia”? How do I become a Sigma? Where can I learn how to be a nonchalant dread head who says “oi oi oi” and “baka?”
These are the fundamental questions today’s youth have been asking themselves lately, and they are most certainly significant.
The brain rot pervading modern society, introduced by the overconsumption of social media, has been working overtime to refurbish the vocabulary of anyone in contact with the internet.
Suddenly, it has become commonplace to speak with friends using vague internet references in a way that seems like a strange code to those unaware of its true meaning, similar to an inside joke, except thousands of people are in on it.
While labeled “brain-rot” this method of communication is actually highly intelligent and efficient, at least in concept. Cough cough.
Brain rot is basically a globalized version of generational slang enabled by the existence of social apps such as TikTok that continuously builds on itself to become more and more obscure and confusing.
Because of the full extent of the number of scenarios on the internet that can be referenced with just a few words, brain rot is a hyper-efficient way to communicate specific feelings, scenarios, or responses. Plus, brain rot is a much more enjoyable and comedic form of communication for the younger audience it caters to.
While scrolling through apps like TikTok it is not uncommon to find brain rot videos with comment sections questioning why the viewers were able to understand everything said, even though on the surface it seemed like total gibberish.
While AI-generated clips of conversations like “Baby Gronk Griddied Off to Ohio” most certainly are not the pinnacle of human intelligence, they are a sign of a newly emerging pseudo-internet language.
It started with abbreviations like LOL and has evolved into a more complex and cohesive form of communication.
People generally see the rise of brain rot and connect it to a gradual decline in intelligence, even though it has always been a prominent aspect of the internet. Despite its name, brain rot is not a sign of our brains rotting. The only difference in the modern variant of this internet culture is that now people use slang words to reference brain rot in the real world.
Brain rot, in the way that it is referred to now, is not even a new thing exclusive to the rise of Gen Alpha.
Poorly produced videos of sentient toilets are not exactly a sign of latent genius, but Gen Z also grew up with things like the “Gummy Bear” song.
Other generations that came into contact with the internet have had their own versions of it, ranging from Nyan Cat to the “Peanut Butter Jelly Time” song to Gangnam Style, to Vine, to Youtube poops.
This is only further evidence of the natural progression of language alongside that of technology. It would be entirely unreasonable to expect that people continue to communicate in the same way as we have before, even as the technology we use to communicate advances.
It sounds horribly stupid, but “W skibidi gyat rizz” may be the future of communication, and not being chronically online will immediately mark you as old and decrepit. If you can not keep up, you have officially reached unc status.
BHSPhilosophyClub • Oct 10, 2024 at 7:47 am
very interesting take on the matter