"Decoding 2024: Brain Rot and Manifest as Society’s Self-Portrait"

As part of a Thinking Activity, our respected Principal gave us the wonderful opportunity to learn about the Words of the Year 2024, chosen by the prestigious Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries. This blog is created to explore these words—Brain Rot and Manifest—and understand how they reflect and connect to our society today.

Language is a reflection of society—its fears, dreams, and complexities. It grows and adapts to the times, serving as a lens through which we can view the shifting dynamics of our culture. This year, more than a trend in the language, the words of Oxford and Cambridge chosen for the spirit of 2024—Brain Rot and Manifest—are powerful indicators of the social and psychological currents running through contemporary life. Both words give glimpses into our digital struggles, our desire for meaning, and how we interact with the world.

Brain Rot: The Perils of Mindless Consumption

Oxford's Word of the Year, Brain Rot captures a growing concern about the kind of impact online content has had on our mental health and intellectual well-being. Thus, defined as the deterioration of a person's mental or intellectual state, especially due to overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging, brain rot aptly speaks to the current state of our digital lives. 

  In 2024, this term is used to describe the negative effects of excessive consumption of low-quality, superficial content on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. The term has skyrocketed in usage, with a 230% increase from 2023 to 2024.

   The concept of brain rot is not new. In fact, Henry David Thoreau first wrote about it in 1854 in his book Walden, where he laments the tendency of society to give up intellectual pursuits and instead indulge in mindless distractions. As he wrote, "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? " Thoreau's critique, though centuries old, resonates today more than ever.

  It talks to our increasing dependence on instant, shallow entertainment at the expense of meaningful engagement. I can personally relate to this phenomenon. We all have been there— trapped in an endless scroll of Tik Toks or YouTube shorts, where time seems to slip away without any lasting impact. These moments may offer fleeting amusement but leave me feeling mentally drained and disconnected from anything deeper. As someone who has grown up alongside digital platforms, I see how brain rot has evolved from a metaphor into a real concern.

   It is the low-effort, sensationalized content that dominates the digital landscape, and it is a warning sign of the dangers of overconsumption in an age of instant gratification. The rise of the term is also a reaction to the growing concern over mental health in the digital age, especially in younger generations. Many studies have shown that prolonged exposure to mindless content can affect attention spans, critical thinking skills, and overall mental well-being negatively. What was once harmless entertainment is now recognized as part of a larger issue.

  Brain rot has shifted from being a punchline into a serious conversation about how the quality of what we watch shapes our minds and, by extension, our mental health.

Manifest: The Pursuit of Control and the Illusion of Simplicity

On the other hand, Cambridge's Word of the Year, Manifest, taps into the rising trend of self-empowerment as well as the desire for destiny-shaping through sheer force of will. 

To "Manifest" something is to imagine doing it, thereby believing that it will manifest. 

   This idea, inspired by spiritual thinking from the 20th century, has rapidly gone viral, with personalities across Tik Tok and Instagram extolling the practice of "manifesting" wealth, success, and everything in between.

   This concept, that has grown from being spiritual to actually manifest itself as a widespread phenomenon across many platforms today, manifests the idea with hope that, somehow, this mental work would attract the things one wanted into his life. Dua Lipa and Olympic sprinter Gabby Thomas are celebrities who have openly discussed their manifesting practices. These ideas seem to make the idea of how our thoughts can create reality. There are billions of views on social media about the hashtag #manifest, where millions of people subscribe to the notion that imagining their future success can make it happen.

But here's the catch:

   Manifesting, as psychologists define it, hinges on "magical thinking"; that is, the belief mental actions can alter reality even without any apparent effort or action. 

• While positive thinking and goal-setting have been recognized to have many benefits to one's self, manifesting goes a little further-actually, a lot-to the point of believing something can be had just in thought. 

• Dr. Sander van der Linden, a professor at the University of Cambridge, warns that manifesting is dangerous because it encourages unrealistic expectations. It can lead people to believe that they can wish away serious problems or illnesses, or that success will materialize without hard work and action

• Like many, I’ve caught myself falling into the trap of manifesting. It is very easy to be swept up by the attractiveness of imagining what kind of life I would want to create, especially when it appears so simple and instant. Reflecting on this trend has made me realize that positive thinking and goal setting are only part of the requirements. Success cannot just rely on vision and hard work, but also strategic action. Without this balance, manifesting becomes an empty promise, a shortcut that ignores the complexity of real-world challenges.

The Social, Cultural, and Psychological Significance

Both Brain Rot and Manifest represent larger cultural shifts deeply embedded in our digital age. Brain rot refers to the overwhelming flood of superficial content that bombards us daily, eroding our attention spans and critical thinking abilities. It reflects our growing concern about how technology is reshaping our minds, and it acts as a warning sign that we must reevaluate how we spend our time online. 

On the other hand, Manifest speaks to our deep-seated desire for control and the pursuit of purpose. In a world where we are constantly bombarded with external pressures, the idea of manifesting our future is a comforting illusion of agency in an often chaotic and unpredictable world.

These words ring true because they speak to the complexity of life in the digital age. The temptation of brain rot—the ease and instant gratification of mindless scrolling—speaks to our need for distraction and escape, whereas manifest represents our need to make sense and gain control over a world that has increasingly become a mystery. 

How these Words influence or Reflect the way we Think , Communicate and Interact ?  

The Words of the Year, Brain Rot and Manifest, show how language reflects the way we think, talk, and connect in today’s world. Brain Rot highlights the harm caused by mindless scrolling through shallow online content, urging us to think about how this affects our focus and mental health. It pushes us to be more aware of how we spend our time online. On the other hand, Manifest speaks to our desire for control and success, encouraging positive thinking and goal-setting, though it can sometimes lead to unrealistic expectations. These words also shape how we talk—Brain Rot helps us express concerns about unhealthy digital habits, while Manifest adds hope and motivation to our conversations. Socially, Brain Rot gets people discussing how to avoid distractions and focus on meaningful activities, while Manifest inspires sharing dreams and supporting each other, even if it sometimes creates pressure to succeed. Together, these words reflect our struggles with distraction and our need for purpose, reminding us how language helps us make sense of modern life.

Conclusion: Language Reflects Society's Struggles and Aspirations

As we move forward, navigating this digital age and its trends, it is worth recognizing how language influences and shapes the way we comprehend and relate to the world. Brain rot and manifest are not just words of description but rather a depiction of social, cultural, and psychological forces at work in our lives. There is this tension between how the digital world distracts us from the superficial distractions and how we yearn for meaning, purpose, and success.

From these Words of the Year, we learn much about how we find our ways through the messiness of modern life and are reminded of the power of language in shaping our collective consciousness. Words may change with time, but they will always be a mirror of society, reflecting both the deepest struggles and the most hopeful aspirations of humanity. As we evolve, so will the language that makes sense of it all.