In 1854, the term “brain-rot” was first coined by Henry David Thoreau in his book Walden. Thoreau warned us about oversimplification, yet, by 2026, brain-rot has found a firm foothold in Generation Z and Generation Alpha culture. As members of this rotting generation, we are here to explain how brain-rot has permeated into our culture.
A survey sent to the LASA Liberator staff resulted with the majority answering either a 6 or 7 out of 10 to the question “How much has brain rot affected you?” Many respond that brain-rot is difficult to avoid. The respondents find themselves struggling with trends and references while others avoid those entirely just to have their friends use the same trends and references around them. Despite most of our staff admitting they have been more affected by brain-rot than not, most of them still say they avoid or ignore these trends. For the sampled group that noted brain-rot’s direct effect, filter bubbles attribute to this impact. According to Medium, these technologically-formed groups advertise content similar to our previous likes or shares, filtering out diversified information and media.
The effects of technology are clear among our generation. In the study reported by the New York Times and done by Professor Shiri Melumad of the University of Pennsylvania, it was shown that people were using AI to generate responses for very simple questions. Professor Melumad was concerned that the younger generation are beginning to have the simple ability to conduct a traditional Google search. The world has been oversimplified, we have gone from searching using books to the internet and now to using chatbots that can give us direct answers to our questions within a few sentences. Brain-rot is oversimplification and through accessible technology, it became widespread in the younger generation.
With the spread of oversimplification, our generation has created the most potent carrier for brain-rot, short term videos. From the same survey of our LASA Liberator staff, 86% responded with “Short Videos” to the question “Where do you intake the most brain rot?” Brain-rot is difficult to avoid on platforms. People love pumping out brain-rot for easy money and everyone who is on the internet ends up getting affected, whether it is through the short videos directly or through friends who watched the videos. According to both the National Institute of Health and the New York Times, scrolling and internet addictions result in anxiety and depression as well as impair memory and planning and decision-making skills, leading to academic procrastination. The New York Times also reported a study where children who used low amounts of social media scored much higher than children who used more social media on a cognitive test. The study explains that social media takes away time from enhancing activities like reading and sleeping. Our staff’s reports also support these studies with many of them explaining that brain-rot serves as distractions that eat up time. With many of our staff saying that they are either fighting the impacts of brain-rot or have defeated these impacts in the past.
Despite the negative effects of brain-rot, its presence is widespread. It is attention grabbing and addictive. Brain-rot can be picked up from everywhere. Whether brain-rot is consumed from short videos or through friends, its effect cannot be ignored. According to The Cub, brain-rot is an epidemic that has spread across our generation.
