Is Short-Form Video Really Rotting Our Brains? Or Is Our Brain Just Snacking Too Much?
Every generation thinks the next one is doomed. Socrates thought writing would destroy memory. Victorians feared novels would rot young minds. Parents panicked over TV, then video games, then smartphones. So when someone says “TikTok is making us dumber”, skepticism is healthy. But skepticism doesn’t mean dismissal. It means asking a better question: Is something measurably changing about how our minds work—or are we just uncomfortable with new interfaces? That’s where the science finally starts catching up.
This article dives deep into what researchers actually know about “brain rot,” short-form video, attention, memory, agency, and why infinite scrolling feels less like entertainment and more like falling into a psychological vending machine.
