Irony, Brainrot, Slop, and the March of History

The New Cultural Dilemma

Q

‘Irony’, ‘Brainrot’, and ‘Slop’ are all terms familiar to much of Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Each has its own distinct characteristics and overlapping meanings with the others, referring to various types of online and memetic content. Increasingly, the youth are subjected to more and more—what many deem to be—corrosive, carcinogenic matter online and in memes. Thus leading to the terms “brainrot” and “slop” entering the contemporary lexicon. Is this descent into irony, brainrot, and slop, really so negative? Can it be stopped? Should we try?

The Information Revolution brought about vast transformations in society, much like other revolutions before it (think: the Industrial and Agricultural Revolutions). From this transformation arose the internet and the consumption of information through it, most readily: memes. Like with anything, this brought with it consequences both “good” and “bad”. One such consequence is the rise of irony. Later, though in parallel, arose “brainrot,” sometimes a term for general low-quality content, other times a subset of hyper-ironic memes (see: so-called “Italian brainrot”). In a similar vein, “slop” has become a term for low-quality, dime-a-dozen, reproduced content online. With the rise of these phenomena, many have railed against them. What can be done? 

Following a historical materialist framework, changes in technology lead to changes in society and culture. While these changes are not inevitable, they are, largely, irreversible. You cannot put the toothpaste back into the tube. In ages past, some tried to do just that, most famously: the Luddites. They tried to roll back the historically progressive changes that the technologies of the Industrial Revolution brought, and they failed. Keeping with the historical materialist framework, said changes are neither good nor bad; they simply are, and they carry their own sets of consequences. Today, we see opposition to new technologies and their socio-cultural changes in various forms, most relevant here being those opposed to the currents of irony, brainrot, and slop. If the lessons of history are anything to be learned from, these actors, too, shall fail. So, nothing can be done? Quite the contrary, one must adapt. One cannot choose the conditions into which one is born; however, one can choose how to respond.

The significance of these phenomena cannot be understated. As American communist Haz Al-Din noted, a “metabolic rift” in society has occurred (metabolic here referring to its Greek origin, metabolikós; changeable, subject to change) and brought with it massive changes to communication. Whilst there are negative consequences to them—the shortening of attention spans, the disruption of human connection—they carry with them a progressive character. This progressive character is the breaking away from previous, traditional, localized modes of socialization to ones based upon the mass media. This change is progressive in that it is a new, dynamic process, which can be more readily influenced by actors within society, giving man more power than ever before over society and culture. This is not without its dangers, as can be seen with the rise of social nihilism and extremism. It cannot be ignored, however, that this is occurring through the memetic transmission of information. Controversial Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin (with whom I share many disagreements) explains that “brainrot” is a “weapon” and a “secret language” of sorts.  Weapons in the wrong hands are very dangerous indeed. These weapons are particularly dangerous because of the way they spread and are used. Take the aforementioned Italian brainrot, and how some have noted that a few of the memes are racist and anti-Islamic. We cannot, as responsible members of society, cede these modes of communication to the extremists and social nihilists; rather, we must seize them ourselves through our own strategic use of these weapons and language to shape a better path. We must be the avant-garde of the memetic realm.

Through irony, brainrot, and yes, even slop, I believe that we can do just that. The times have already changed, and the changes are here to stay. It is up to us what we do with the lot we are given; we can be like the Luddites and flail impotently as history drags us along, or we can become the masters of our own fate. To this end, it is senseless to resist; we must adapt.