Social Media, brain rot and the slow death of reading

 

With easy access to the internet and faster resource availability, people have started to leave books behind, preferring visually stimulating methods of knowledge and entertainment. This trend has increased to such an extent that Oxford University Press' word of the year was Brain rot. Brain rot refers to the low-quality and low-value online content and the intellectual deterioration from overconsumption. 

Brain rot extends not only to children and teenagers but also to adults. You will find people sitting in the spot for hours just scrolling on their phones looking at social media, watching movies, or playing games these days. When kids should be going out to meet their friends and relationships, which were found by being introduced to a friend of a friend or at the office are near their end. Nowadays not only is Social Media killing communication skills but also people's ability to form close connections with other humans. The importance of going out into the sun, and eating the right things instead of taking powders and supplements because influencers say so is on the decline. Over time, people have become so addicted to their gadgets that they cannot even think about living without them or picking up a physical copy of a book. Schools are encouraging this by shifting towards using laptops and iPads instead of paper.

I must admit that everything has its pros and cons; however, that doesn't mean we should ignore the other side. Online platforms make it much easier to access platforms that people may never have been able to come across, maybe even just a decade ago. However, knowing when to stop and what's important for you is important. 

However, Sir Jonathan Bate,  the Shakespeare scholar, who teaches at both UK and US universities says that even literature students who used to and should be reading three novels a week are unable to read even one novel in three months.  Not only that but the FT article also states that only half of the adults in the UK read for pleasure.

It has been rightly but that Social Media is designed to hijack our attention with the stimulation that dopamine hits give and how we become addicted to that feeling. This makes it hard for people to go back to books and leave technology behind or even reduce it.

In the end, people are sacrificing so much just for a small dopamine hit which in the long run is ruining your brain function 

INSPIRED BY THE FT ARTICLE 

https://www.ft.com/content/fe9963aa-f4fd-4839-8732-5df7bc4317bb

ALL IMAGES ARE TAKEN FROM THE INTERNET