Brain Rot, Attention Spans … and You
Our minds are more in control than we realize...
Issue 190, December 12, 2024
If you are anything like us, reading that Oxford University identified “brain rot” as the word of the year, we took a pause to consider the implications. Then of course, we felt compelled to weigh in given its correlation to managing change and transformation as well as understanding a market, customers and a workforce.
We have been reeling toward shorter attention spans, higher levels of distraction, an explosion of clinically diagnosed anxiety and depression and an inability to focus effectively. This has become a huge problem for educators; when your students have an average attention span of 8 seconds, it’s a challenge to pack in ancient history, algebraic equations, and a book report on Catcher in the Rye. It is also a likely overlooked problem for leaders and managers seeking to motivate individuals to a shared purpose within an organization.
Time Stamped: The 8-Second Window
Naresh Sekar writes for Medium that the 8-second rule states that “extreme discomfort typically subsides within a brief window of 8 seconds. After surpassing this initial threshold, individuals often find it easier to manage and cope with challenging circumstances.” Stated simply, 8 seconds is about how long it takes to decide whether information is useful or not. Complicating the situation is the unprecedented level of noise we contend with that makes the 8-second window even more critical.
Think about it. What can you do in 8 seconds? You can leave a website that doesn’t load and operate quickly enough. You can bail on an email that doesn’t get to the point and communicate directly to you. You can start scrolling on your phone in a meeting if the discussion gets derailed. You will ignore the “elevator pitch” that takes over 8 seconds. You can tune out of a training video that beats around the bush. And you will definitely stop listening to presentations at professional events that are burdened with irrelevant information. The 8-second window has a massive impact on any organization looking to communicate effectively with customers as well as its workforce. And to put it into a larger perspective, a child is born every 8 seconds.
Brain Waves
In an 8-second assessment, how much do you miss or dismiss as unimportant? Do you realize that you in such a brief amount of time are judging what is or isn’t useful? Have you considered the 8-second implications in how you absorb information and make decisions? Let’s face it, 8 seconds is not a long time to consider anything new, and the assessment process is a subconscious default mechanism. Our minds are more in control than we realize … or want to believe.
There are recent debates whether our minds remain very primitive (think Stone Age) or if our ever-growing technical and intellectual prowess is the result of our brains evolving to higher levels. This is a technological determinism quandary. The 8-second window would seem to raise the point that are minds are still very primitive operating on a short-time frame to fight or flight. Are we any different today? We are always making quick assessments to know whether to fight or flee. The question is how much of this behavior is a kneejerk reaction.
There is a counterargument that the 8-second window is in reaction to how our minds have changed (likely not for the better) to adapt to the constant deluge of information that we contend with daily.
Quick Response
As with most things in life and work, there are disadvantages and advantages to the 8-second window. If you understand the 8-second window, you can leverage it to your advantage. You’ve got just that amount of time to form a first impression. In communications, you need to grab someone’s interest quickly. In terms of the workforce, simple tasks that require quick movements can be done in 8 seconds. Further, you can make a quick decision or process basic information in this timeframe. (Medium)
Brain Rot
Which brings us back to brain rot. Indulge us with the short history; it’s interesting and surprising. “The first recorded use of ‘brain rot’ was found in 1854 in Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden, which reports his experiences of living a simple lifestyle in the natural world. As part of his conclusions, Thoreau criticizes society’s tendency to devalue complex ideas, or those that can be interpreted in multiple ways, in favor of simple ones, and sees this as indicative of a general decline in mental and intellectual effort.” (Oxford University)
So, brain rot is nothing new. Oxford defines it in a 2024 context 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.” Social media is propelling brain rot and seeping onto more widespread behavior and usage including mainstream journalism and concern about the negative impact of overconsuming online content.
In a classic case of technological determinism, Oxford says, “In 2024, brain rot is used to describe both the cause and effect of this, referring to 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.”
It gets worse. “Its modern usage is defined by the Oxford University Press 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.” (Wiki) And as one thing inevitably leads to another, emerging brain rot language (especially popular and exclusionary with Gen Z and Alphas) includes “skibidi,” meaning something nonsensical, and “Ohio,” meaning something embarrassing or weird.
Contextual Language
Doomscrolling (a 2020 word of the year) paved the way for brain rot. Anecdotally, doomscrolling is “spending too much time online reading or viewing negative news or other content that makes you feel sad, anxious, or angry.” It often includes bad news that people look for as confirmation bias on how they feel. Theoretically, scrolling could be positive and optimistic, but doomscrolling has become emblematic of young people who are suffering from depression and mental health issues, often as a result of the scrolls.
Harvard Health reports. “‘It has been one onslaught after the other,’ says Dr. Aditi Nerurkar, a lecturer in the Division of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. ‘Our brains and bodies are expertly designed to handle short bursts of stress. But over the past several years, the stress just doesn’t seem to end. Doomscrolling is our response to that.’”
North Stars and a Moral Compass
What goes on in society is reflected in our organizations. Afterall, a workforce is experiencing personally and professionally the effects of brain rot, which can flow into an organization’s health and welfare. Change and transformation require commitment, attention and dedication to the management of many complex parts, factors and variables, often over considerable time horizons. If a workforce is experiencing brain rot and operating on the 8-second window, how does a leader or manager guide them along the long and winding road to their goals?
Some would argue that we are entering a zombie apocalypse era. Anyone walking down a street (if they lift their head up from their device) can see how many of us are walking head down and scrolling. We have developed a hunched-over posture as a result.
Political commentator David Brooks writes that “Moral formation” has been largely abandoned. He states, “In sphere after sphere, people decided that moral reasoning was not really relevant.” In a blunt description, he says it in “a culture devoid of moral education, Americans had to grow up in a morally inarticulate, self-referential world with a largely amoral younger generation, devoid of a discernible moral compass.”
That is a harsh description. But what happens when you don’t follow a moral compass? What happens if you don’t even have one? Brooks adds, “Amoral narcissists are fundamentally insecure people who seek to fill the moral vacuum with politics and tribalism. The only way for amoral people to feel righteous, is to engage in ‘tribal’ group conflict and claim to be victimized at the hands of their enemies. In a dangerous case of politics of recognition, people are trying to escape sadness, loneliness, and anomie through politics.”
Brooks is taking a hardline view of the polarization of American society. However, it’s important to hear alternative views to ensure that we are using critical thinking to run our organizations to serve all our stakeholders. With the proliferation of online information that confirms whatever you want to believe, organizations have to be vigilant to ensure that they are following their North Stars to stay on track with their own operational and strategic playbooks.
In other words, we don’t have the luxury of ignoring the external cultural conversation and running our organizations in a vacuum. Many younger workers are not okay. Half the workforce and customer base are feeling optimistic about promised large-scale changes, the other half, not so much.
At 2040 we work with clients to help them navigate a bifurcated marketplace and address the cultural and psychological pressures that organizational leadership faces. The overarching conversation affects how individuals receive and digest information. The 8-second window informs marketing to customers and informing employees. Brain rot can infect a workplace culture and doomscrolling can distract a workforce. These are not cultural memes; these are real issues that shape an organizational culture and impact its progress forward.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for leaders to lead; activist pressure has all, but obliterated DEI initiatives and employees are unionizing for fair wages and workplace equality. Almost everywhere we look we are polarized.
A New Paradigm
It would seem the current construct of a decreasing attention span, declining mental health, and doomscrolling are indeed resulting in brain rot. We assert that this condition is likely here to stay as we clearly won’t disconnect from devices as we are obsessed by short-form content and are addicted to near-constant bursts of dopamine that are released by quick online transitions. So, what can one do to lead, manage, change and/or transform an organization? Systems thinking, critical thinking and awareness are tools and a strategy to navigate this new paradigm.
2040’s core value proposition is that viewing the marketplace holistically and running an organization with systems thinking is a nonnegotiable strategy to understand how all the parts inform the whole. Each part needs consideration and consensus in contributing to the whole. It’s not easy; being fair to all stakeholders and following a North Star to serve customers first takes vision and courage. Give us a call so we can help chart your future together.
Explore this issue and all 189 past issues>
Get “The Truth about Transformation”
The 2040 construct to change and transformation. What’s the biggest reason organizations fail? They don’t honor, respect, and acknowledge the human factor.
We have compiled a playbook for organizations of all sizes to consider all the elements that comprise change and we have included some provocative case studies that illustrate how transformation can quickly derail.
Now available in paperback.