Brain Rot & End of Creative Thinking

  •   Wed, Oct 29 2025
  •   By Ankith S Kumar

October 29, 2025

Now, let’s be honest, most of us can’t sit still without checking our phones. If silence stretches for more than a few seconds, our fingers start twitching toward a screen. We call it “just checking something,” but what we’re really doing is escaping. Escaping boredom. Escaping stillness. Escaping thought.

Welcome to the age of brain rot, a silent epidemic that’s killing our ability to think deeply, dream wildly, and create freely.

What Exactly is Brain Rot?

“Brain rot” isn’t a medical condition; it’s a cultural one. It’s that foggy, restless feeling after hours of scrolling through reels or YouTube shorts. The brain is overstimulated yet undernourished. It’s consumed so much meaningless noise that it can’t sit down and produce anything original. We’re drowning in content, but starving for thought.

The Death of Depth

Our ancestors stared at the night sky and saw constellations, stories, and gods. We stare at screens and see the next 15-second video. The problem isn’t entertainment, it’s excess. The more we consume, the less mental space we have to connect ideas, to imagine, to wonder. Creativity requires gaps, moments of boredom and silence where thoughts can collide and fuse into something new. But in today’s attention economy, boredom is the enemy. Every app fights to fill every second of emptiness. We never let our minds wander anymore, and when imagination doesn’t wander, it dies.

The Algorithm Ate My Imagination

There was a time when artists, writers, and thinkers chased ideas. Now, they chase algorithms. What performs better? What gets more likes? What trends? Engagement metrics have replaced art. We are no longer creating for meaning, we’re creating for reach. And when your creativity depends on an algorithm’s approval, it’s no longer creativity. It’s compliance. We’ve confused content with creation. We’ve mistaken visibility for value. And slowly, our creative instincts are decaying in the glow of blue light.

When Language Rots, Thought Follows

One of the silent casualties of brain rot is language itself. Words, the tools we once used to shape ideas, are now shrinking into memes, slang, and reaction phrases. Instead of expressing what we feel, we recycle whatever the internet has pre-approved. We say, “It’s giving,” instead of describing. We say, “Mood,” instead of feeling. We say, “I can’t even,” instead of thinking why something moved us. This isn’t harmless slang; it’s a symptom. When our vocabulary collapses, so does our imagination. Because language isn’t just how we communicate, it’s how we think.

If your words become shorter, simpler, and repetitive, your thoughts follow the same path.
You stop exploring shades of emotion or the complexity of ideas. You start living in hashtags and trends instead of full sentences and nuanced feelings.

And when that happens, creativity doesn’t just fade; it flattens. Art becomes content. Feelings become emojis. Expression becomes algorithm-friendly shorthand. The end of deep language is the beginning of shallow thinking.

The Illusion of Being “Informed”

We read dozens of headlines a day but rarely remember even one. We watch a hundred videos but can’t recall what any of them taught us. Our minds are flooded with fragments of information, so much so that they can no longer form complete ideas. We’ve mistaken scrolling for learning and noise for knowledge. It’s not stupidity; it’s saturation. And that’s what true brain rot looks like—not the absence of intelligence, but the paralysis of it.

The Cure

The cure isn’t deleting the internet; it’s reclaiming your attention. Be bored on purpose. That’s where new ideas are born. Create more than you consume. Even a doodle counts. Read deeply. Think slowly. Let words and thoughts simmer. Disconnect to reconnect. Silence isn’t scary; it’s fertile ground. Every time you resist the urge to scroll, you’re exercising your creative muscles. Every time you choose to write, paint, or just think, you’re rewiring your brain for originality.

The Final Thought

Brain rot isn’t the end; it’s a warning. If we continue living on fast-forward, we’ll forget how to imagine altogether. But those who pause, those who protect their inner stillness, will become the last true creators of this era. So, the next time your thumb hovers over the refresh icon, ask yourself: Are you feeding your brain or just rotting it?

 

 

 

 
By Ankith S Kumar
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Comment on this article

  • Mahesh, Belgaum

    Wed, Oct 29 2025

    “When language rots, thought follows. This line hit me hard. An article that truly awakens the mind — written by my Psychology teacher.” #BrainRot #RealityCheck

  • Rita, Germany

    Wed, Oct 29 2025

    Dear Ankith,you have written a subject which is diagnosed as big sickness.More dangerous than cancer.Sometimes I think how we as small children lived and our parents?Without cars ,phones and proper roads Still more healthy than we today........Even proper hospitals and doctors.Today what are we?How we live?We cant go to a holiday without our very loving?:::Phones Saying for emergency.But without it we feel bored.Saying lets see if someone wrote ,or we call back.Its not our real holiday for our brain .A call ,one mail must be done.On roads we see people tip or read walk and many times dash electric light .even dash frontal people trams or cars.Other side one thing is better need not run to neighbour house to call one or emergency can reach people or doctor immediately.

  • Daniel, Mangalore

    Wed, Oct 29 2025

    Well written. Many students are already addicted to gadgets and Soon one step further if ai enslaves everyone or elite control everyone through Ai it is not surprising! Then with the job losses because of ai, why so many people needed on this planet question arises elite's mind? They think their own 500 million sufficient, out 8 billion and another pandemic like covid and short term tested experimental shots for it to reduce population drastically it is not surprising! BTW they forced this mobile addictions, technology dependence, digital system and online purchases through or after so called pandemic. These elite raked billions through technology, online business, so called vaccines, where as kids of normal rich, middle class, common man are suffering addictions! Soon if survival also at risk, it is not surprising! because of greed, selfishness of these elite who even control governments worldwide. God if reset the technology system through Solar flares or CME's which may knock out electronics worldwide it is not surprising, already so many asteroids and comets one after another nearing Sun as per minor planet center, some of which may cause these flares. BTW looks like God also has designed the system, when too many sins or evil in world goes out of control, then these comets specially huge ones cause earthquakes, volcanoes and tidal waves due to their gravitational force, in addition to solar flares! for cleanup and to reset back to normal.

  • RkR, Mangalore/ Dubai

    Wed, Oct 29 2025

    Irrespective of which generation presently we live in Killer Gadgets crazy world. From Reading glasses to eye surgery and awaiting for AI killers. From diabetes the silent killer to Mobile/ gadgets You’ll find patients in Neuro, Cardiac, Optham, psychiatry, pediatric list goes on It’s an Virus.

  • Steven, kalasa

    Wed, Oct 29 2025

    You've Brought up a nice and informative topic, I really wish our old days would come back, when even with mobile phones around, people still read and enjoyed books, its like choosing to give up fast food and return to traditional meals.

  • Ram_Prof. SRM, Nitte

    Wed, Oct 29 2025

    The article crisply identifies a growing cultural problem I have observed over 12 years of teaching graduate students: shrinking attention spans and a steady erosion of creativity. Its description of “brain rot” overstimulation without nourishment mirrors what I see in classrooms where students skim, lose depth, and struggle to sustain original thought. The piece’s emphasis on boredom as creative fuel and on language degradation as a symptom of shallow thinking is especially persuasive; both explain why nuanced argument and sustained imagination are becoming rare. Practical remedies offered (mainly, the purposeful boredom, slow reading, and occasional disconnection) are realistic and urgently needed. I appreciate the efforts of Mr. Ankith for taking up this important topic in a simple, engaging way; I strongly feel that this article is an effective eye-opener to everyone (not limited to only students) that challenges readers to protect their attention and reclaim space for real thinking.


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