. Sigmas of Westfield! This goofy ahh social media movement has been capping. They have been yapping about how all of us have L attention spans and premium brain rot, they’re yappaholics, fluent in yappinese. These boomers need to put the fries in the bag cause this is so fanum tax. They’re just edging to make us look like betas. They really need to start mewing and stop being D1 haters. Maybe then they’ll have W rizz and start pulling baddies.
. There’s a glossary at the bottom if you don’t understand that.
. The discourse surrounding brain rot, a term coined from TikTok describing low-quality content that can be psychologically damaging, is very one-sided, and the dominating opinion is that the newer generations spend too much time online to the point where they blur the line between socially acceptable conversation and social media sludge. Brain rot typically refers to a genre of slang that emerged from the app TikTok. Words like skibidi (referring to a popular Georgian Youtube series skibidi toilet), gyatt (buttocks), and rizz (charisma) are commonplace.
. With this new slang form emerging and the previous narrative of the youth being addicted to their phones, a moral panic has spread amongst netizens. Around fall 2023, TikTok videos of middle school teachers complaining about the extreme lack of intellect among their new students went viral. A Georgia teacher, Mr. Bryant, who goes by @Qbthedon on TikTok, had a video that went viral where he stated, “I teach 7th grade, and they are still performing on the 4th grade level.” Mr. Bryant also reveals, “I still have kids performing on grades K, 1, 2, and 3rd grade levels.” “I can count on one hand how many kids are actually performing on their grade level.” Mr. Bryant’s video spurred mass conversation about parenting, the American education system, and the decline of intelligence among children. A multitude of commentary YouTubers (and conservative grifters) hopped upon the bandwagon and began reporting on the “stupidity” of today’s kids.
. But are the kids really getting dumber? Youtuber Peagusus, in his video titled “Teachers Are Fed Up Of DUMB Gen Z Kids…” asserts that it is scientifically backed that this generation has become stupider. In this video, during the 0:7:13 and 0:7:26 marks, two cropped screenshots of an article are shown, one showing how IQ scores have typically increased by 3 points or more per decade until 2020, and the other citing studies from Brown, Columbia, and other universities that show that pandemic babies have decreased cognitive abilities and that they have lost 22 points in IQ. Although Peagusus did not link the article he referenced this information from or even mention the source’s name in his video, I was able to find it.
. The article titled “Are We Getting Dumber? The Imperative Of Investing in Early Childhood” was published in January 2022. The article examines the IQ drop of infants born in the pandemic and what may be the possible factors that caused that. The article mentions parent stress, parents being online more, social isolation, and mask-wearing as factors that may have influenced the decrease of infant IQ. Nowhere in the article does it mention the effects of children being online more. Also, the article tackles the subject of babies, not school-age children, which is the focus of this whole internet conversation. Furthermore, the research predicts that parent stress is the strongest factor that caused this IQ drop. There was already a previously highly studied link between maternal stress and lower brain development, and the pandemic and its byproducts brought about high amounts of stress in pregnant women, which is greatly assumed to have impacted the cognitive development of babies.
. So, then how does this all relate to brain rot and this new brand of slang? The hysteria that surrounded the supposed intellect decline of the youth is the same that fuels the discussion around brain rot. Slang has existed forever; every generation has a subset of words that teenagers have used to communicate with each other. Ella Ammos, 12, remarks, “It’s for sure brain rot; it’s not beneficial. But, as people, it’s are calling to communicate whether it’s intelligent or stupid; it doesn’t matter; it brings people together.” Language is something that is constantly evolving. As people, we thrive off social connection, and communication is a primary way that we fulfill that need. Slang is simply a reflection of that; it’s the way that we as humans talk colloquially and is a way that certain cultures or subgroups use to identify each other.
. Internet culture and social media addiction among teens and kids is still a massive issue. There is no doubt that the consumption of online content has negative cognitive effects, and it should be monitored when it comes to younger children. But taking personal accounts and what you see on social media to make a wider judgment that society has come to a downfall and the newer generation are absolute idiots is wrong. What’s more wrong is skewing facts and trying to create a correlation where one does not exist. We should think critically about the things that we see online and look for reputable facts and sources; and this goes without saying; you are not immune to propaganda.
