Wilf Smith-
Hello there. I would like to start this article by outlining a brief history of Sudoku. The 18th century Swiss mathematicians’ game was adapted into its modern version by puzzle inventor Howard Garns in 1979 in Indiana, USA. In 1984 it first appeared in Japan where it acquired the name ‘Sudoku’. Wayne Gould, a judge from New Zealand, became so enthralled upon encountering the puzzle in Japan, that he devoted his next six years to developing a computer program capable of generating Sudokus. It made its way into the culture of the United Kingdom in November 2004, when The Times published it for the first time – sparking something of a craze in the year it was introduced. In 2005, Sudoku was announced as UK word of the year by the Oxford University Press.
The publishers of the Oxford Dictionary release their word of the year for the UK based on a public vote and their own expertise. It is always a word that can be regarded as the most topical in UK society. During the financial crisis of 2008, unsurprisingly the word was credit crunch, in 2021 it was vax after Covid. As new technology developed, 2013 was selfie, 2014 was vape, and 2015 saw the first emoji (😂) win top spot. Most recently, the presence of online content and social media was reflected in 2023 with rizz. I write this as 2024 comes to an end, and so it seems fitting to reflect upon how Internet culture has prevailed once more.
The word of the year for 2024 was brain rot.
Now, I must confess to you all that I am chronically online. I find my algorithm deep in the cesspools of “ohioskibidi toilet rizz party”. And so, while it pains me to acknowledge this, not all the readers among us will have the same level of brain rot expertise. Many among us may have perfectly reasonable content that they consume on social media. If such people are indeed among us, I expect they may require a further explanation of this cultural phenomenon.
In 2024, ‘brain rot’ is used to describe both the cause and effect of low-quality, low-value content found on social media and the internet, as well as the subsequent negative impact that consuming this type of content is perceived to have on an individual or society. (Oxford University Press, 2024)
Brain rot has gained immense traction over the past year on TikTok and Instagram Reels – the term usage increased by 230% from 2023 – and has spawned its own complex humorous language. It centres around the developing interconnectedness between Gen Z and Gen Alpha communities, with new humorous trends adopted into the ever-expanding culture of homogenous slop. The term brain rot is a somewhat self-aware reflection upon the negative implications of ‘trivial and unchallenging’ content that maximises mindless consumption.
As someone born in 2005, the word of the year – Sudoku – has always existed and is very demure. It was something of a cultural shock when I realised that only months before I was born, it was virtually unheard of in the UK (what the sigma!). Nearly 20 years on, the puzzle is still immensely prevalent today, as too are vapes, selfies, and laughing emojis. It is therefore unlikely that brain rot will disappear suddenly. Even if TikTok does end up getting banned, and even if we all have knee surgery tomorrow, it truly looks like we are only seeing the beginning of brain rot’s influence. Every child now born will grow up without a preconceived notion that brain rot has at some point not existed. If we compare brain rot to Sudoku, Sudoku has existed in some form since the 18th century. It has been around historically for some time without massively tapering or fading in popularity. Brain rot is more interesting as it is truly a new concept.
Well, kinda. The first ever recorded mention of brain rot was found in a book Walden by Henry David 1854, advocating for a simple natural lifestyle. In his conclusion he remarks:
While England endeavours to cure the potato rot, will not any endeavour to cure the brain-rot – which prevails so much more widely and fatally?”
Congratulations Henry! Your thesis on natural coexistence and the dangers of industrialisation (the one you put all those years of your life and effort into) is now forever remembered as the birth place of ‘alpha omega male grindset cave smurf cat literally hitting the griddy kai cenat fanum tax not the mosquito again 1 2 buckle my shoe goofy ahh aiden ross sin city monday left me broken amogus quirked up white boy busting it down goated with the sauce john pork grimace shake kiki do you love me poggers kumalala savesta’.
I am sure that if he were alive today, he would be thrilled with his legacy.
But apart from Henry David, brain rot does not have a comprehensive history. Its existence is new in the sense that it has been given new meaning by our generation and online community. Yet, it is no exaggeration to say our society laid the foundations of brain rot. I believe that foundational trends fall into two camps. Each camp has had respective influence in building a petri dish for brain rot bacteria. These two camps are rather obvious: that of humour, and that of social media.
In terms of focusing on humour, we have seen the restriction of humour over time within ‘professional’ tv sitcoms, stand up comedy, and movies in the UK. The debate over what can be considered harmless comedy is endless, however, mainstream modern comedy nevertheless is more cautious around the offensiveness of the content. Other realms, like sexual comedy, are an oversaturated mess of regurgitated jokes and skits. Social media content, however, is dictated by the online community. Gen Z audiences appreciate the rejection of comedy regulations as the oversaturation of comedy pushes humour into the extreme. Shows like Southpark, Family Guy and The Boys are all immensely popular. Jokes that provoke a reaction and dark humour skits provide an extra duplicity and riskiness to the comedy. Relax liberals. However, even dark humour has its limits, and tropes get old and boring. Yet, there is one form of comedy that is limitless – it never will not hit its target… brain rot.
Social media has also had an important effect on brain rot. In his recent Ted Talk – How social media is changing how you talk – Adam Aleksic highlights how a lot of these emerging trends in language and our society are a result of social media’s ‘virality.’
The very structure of social media is changing where words come from, how words get popular, and how quickly words spread. (Aleksic)
The prevalence of TikTok and Reels have changed the boundaries and format of our comedy culture. Attention spans are notoriously low in our young populations, and short form content exacerbates this. Mindless scrolling scratches our short-term dopamine itch and fulfils our receptors, yay!
The algorithm is the culprit, but influencers are the accomplices. (Aleksic)
The nature of the algorithm has dictated the necessity of creators grabbing attention asap. On average users spend less than one second on a TikTok before scrolling to the next. That has created the necessary parameters for content creators to exploit. Additionally, in order to be successful, the humour must be almost instantaneous or at least provoke the reaction as quickly as possible.
Brain rot holds the key because it is random.
Nonsensical brain rot is the ultimate content goldmine. The random nature of the content generates engagement and attention instantaneously from our natural curiosity. If you don’t understand why a sticking out your gyatt for the rizzler video has millions of likes, your attention has been grabbed in the most simple and intrinsic way – confusion. Content creators jump on emerging trends, utilising trending brain rot audios and words that the algorithms prioritise – this perpetrates the brain rot language and culture. Brain rot’s randomness adds another dimension because trends are easy to launch and permit creativity around subjects that are inherently meaningless.
But crucially, what makes brain rot funny? It may be random, optimised for internet culture, but this should not necessarily make the content funny, and certainly not to the extent of the humour embraced by Gen Z. Like all great thinkers, I discovered the answer to this scrolling Instagram Reels at 3:00 am.
The reel showcased how in 2003 the credible academic source Veggietales predicted this very development of brain rot humour. In one of the kid cartoon episodes a skit is featured where Larry the cucumber remarks that ‘in the future, entertainment will be randomly generated.’ Bob the tomato does not understand and so the two robot ‘hosts of the future’ demonstrate with a joke.
Why did the chicken cross the road? … [robot generates answer]
Weed eater.
Bob still cannot comprehend the randomness and says that the joke ‘doesn’t make any sense.’ Upon hearing this Larry responds by saying.
It’s funny because it’s unexpected.
I don’t think even the creators of the show realised the reality behind that statement. Randomness is funny. That’s the simple truth, and the key to how brain rot has thrived. While humour is subjective, randomness is not, therefore any situation can be made funny and entertaining.
In 2025, we are only just beginning to grasp the true depth of the potential brain rot wormhole. It’s rapid emergence at the forefront of trending internet culture will have ramifications that we cannot begin to contemplate at this early stage. While I have set the tone of this article up to now as informal and humorous, there are certainly serious implications for the future that I would like to conclude with. As mentioned, brain rotactively mocks the negative impacts of meaningless content in a somewhat self-aware manner. I think we are all aware of the fact that our younger generations are at a real risk from such exposure. ‘iPad kids’ are just kids. The morbid part of brain rot and sloppy internet culture is that we have little scientific idea of what the impact that this random content consumption from such an early age will have on the brain in 20, 30, 40 years’ time.
There is nothing more I can really add. I hope to have outlined a fairly enjoyable, somewhat comprehensive narrative of the history and qualities of brain rot. Ultimately, the real issue is now the consequences. I too ponder at the impact my own online presence will have. There is a large possibility that I will be found in 60 years’ time smashing up my nursing home because I hear a Fortnite chest behind the wall.
Thanks for reading. If you wish to feedback on this article, send me Reels.
Links for further watching:
Veggietales
Ted Talk
Cover Image: A skibidi Toilet from DaFuq!?Boom!’s YouTube series. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/@DaFuqBoom/videos