It says something about the past year when the people who put out the Oxford Dictionary chose “brain rot” as the words of 2024.
Brain rot is defined as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Also: something characterized as likely to lead to such deterioration.”
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) experts noticed that “brain rot” gained new prominence this year as a term used to capture concerns about the impact of consuming excessive amounts of low-quality online content, especially on social media.
In 2023, Oxford chose a more positive term “rizz,” which means “style, charm or attractiveness.”
It is not surprising that brain rot has become so prevalent, considering how many people are addicted to “social” media.
But the term is not new. The OED notes that in 1854 in Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden lamented the penchant for the humans to prefer simple solutions to complex issues, and an overall dumbing-down of society. “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?”
Yes, Thoreau could be a tad bleak at times. But he is best known for his celebration of nature and individualism. One of his more famous quotes: “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away.”
The same basic sentiment was expressed by Oscar Wilde who is said to have quipped, “Be yourself; everyone else is taken.”
Collins Dictionary has declared “brat” was its 2024 word of the year. Brat is defined as someone with a “confident, independent and hedonistic attitude.”
That would aptly describe a large percentage of the populace, whose main goal in life is to have a good time. Hey, there’s nothing with that, if you can afford it and nobody gets hurt. Right?
Another accurate descriptor for our times is the Merriam-Webster’s 2024 Word of the Year –- polarization. The dictionary defines this as “a division into two sharply distinct opposites; especially, a state in which the opinions, beliefs, or interests of a group or society no longer range along a continuum but become concentrated at opposing extremes.”
Essentially, it is an us-versus-them divide, where people “living in silos” block out anything that might not mesh with their world view.
We had better gird ourselves for major polarization this year.
Voters will likely be subjected to two election campaigns in 2025. Ontario Premier Doug Ford is expected to win another huge majority this year while on the federal level, the Conservatives are set to wipe out the Liberals. The federal campaign will likely be the last one covered by CBC TV because once Pierre Poilievre is in power, he will pull the plug, mute the brute, smoke the woke and shut down the English wing of what our next Prime Minister views as being a waste of tax dollars. Poilievre said he would spare Radio Canada, the French-language service, from his “Common Sense” plan.
It is difficult to think that the network that gave us Anne With An E, Hockey Night in Canada, The Friendly Giant and The Vinyl Café is not worth preserving. How will we get the pulse of the nation in the absence of Cross-Country Check-up?
All politicians claim they are attuned to the needs of electors, some of whom are not always cognizant of the true state of the world. At least that is what Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland suggested a little while back.
Commenting on the merits of that wonderful two-month tax holiday, she allowed that the gift would help deal with “vibecession,” a condition that had affected citizens.
Freeland said that although the economy has been doing well, many Canadians are feeling that things are not good.
The expression, coined in 2022 by American financial content creator Kyla Scanlon refers to a disconnect between the economy of a country and the general public’s negative perception of it.
Feeling we are in a recession? It could be all in your head.
It will indeed be tough to maintain a positive attitude over the next few years considering the tumultuous state of the world, and the toxic political climate in our country, and in the big and powerful neighbour to the south.
Harsh reality at times makes one yearn for the days when news did not travel so fast. Hippies, who venerated individuality, used to “drop out” in search of their version of Thoreau’s utopic Walden Pond.
Today, disengagement is popular and worrisome. There is growing concern that disconnection will become a problem among children, who are “digital natives,” having grown up with digital technology and who increasingly relate to the world through devices.
Regardless of your age, it is tempting to retreat into your own world, shut yourself off from the outside.
But we all know that this is not a healthy approach.
As we look forward to a new year, let us hope we can not only survive 2025, but that we also thrive in the months ahead. Some 170 years after Thoreau bemoaned the spread of brain rot, let us all resolve to do our best to fend off the spread of that malaise. Happy New Year!
Thoughts, comments? Let us know at rmahoney@seawaynews.media
