Let your brain breathe, or don’t and meet Tralalero Tralala in your algorithmic descent
By IQRA AHMAD — arts@theaggie.org
Bored? Good. You might be onto something.
Stop doomscrolling. Yes, you. The 38th TikTok video or Instagram Reel will still be there in five minutes; it’s a promise. Let’s talk about that strange, sticky feeling you get when you’re sitting at your desk, staring into the abyss of your Google Calendar, wondering why you’re bored even though you have 73 unread emails, two club meetings, three deadlines and a Canvas notification that feels vaguely threatening.
Welcome to boredom, not the “stuck-in-line-at-the-DMV” kind, but the weird existential void where your brain’s like, “bada-bing, bada-boom, I could do stuff…but I simply won’t.” And here’s the plot twist, that might actually be a good thing.
Boredom: brain fog or brain fuel?
Boredom is actually secretly a gift to your brain, and it can even be positively impactful to your brain’s health to allow boredom to creep in.
Boredom can give your brain a chance to decompress and reflect on social connections that foster new ideas. It’s a power nap for your creativity, the calm before that “aha!” moment, or as Leo Tolstoy put it, boredom is “a desire for desires.” Boredom, in this definition, isn’t the absence of stimulation, rather it’s the craving for meaning.
But wait, enter brain rot.
Here’s the catch: Boredom isn’t always zen and poetic. Sometimes, instead of gazing thoughtfully out of a window like a misunderstood protagonist, you end up deep in the digital trenches of brain rot. Yes, brain rot. The word that your spellcheck hates and puts a red squiggly line under, but your TikTok “For You” page loves.
Brain rot is “the supposed mental decline resulting from too much time spent in the chasms of the digital world reserved for trivial content,” according to a National Geographic article. In other words, it’s the side effect of watching 27 short TikToks in a row about a show you would never watch on Netflix or lore you didn’t ask for or scrolling past memes that make less and less sense the longer you’re awake. What’s actually happening here is that your brain becomes habituated to the constant stream of repetitive content. The more you consume it, the less stimulating it becomes, and over time, your brain starts to crave more intense input just to feel the same effect, kind of like building a tolerance, but for memes.
The term has gained so much traction that it was declared the 2024 Oxford Word of the Year and had a whopping 230% increase in usage between 2023 and 2024, according to the Oxford University Press. This is probably because half of the internet was filled with riddles and soundbites of phrases like “Rizzlers of Oz.”
From Walden to Ballerina Cappuccina
Ironically, the first known use of brain rot was in a book, titled “Walden,” authored by Henry David Thoreau in 1854 when he expressed leaving a complex modern life for one that is composed of a simple lifestyle. Though, we’ve taken that simplicity and run into memes and endless TikToks to express our goals for a simpler life.
Welcome to the age of “Italian brain rot.” You might have encountered some of TikTok’s finest creations.
“First, there was a shark with feet wearing Nike sneakers, called Tralalero Tralala (the TikTok account associated with the first iteration of that character has been deleted),” an article by The New York Times reads. “Then came Bombardiro Crocodillo, a military bomber plane with a crocodile head.”
And now, reigning supreme is Ballerina Cappuccina, a ballerina with a cappuccino cup for a head. Yes, this is real. No, we can’t explain it either. But, if you’re feeling lost, it’s okay. This viral fever dream of content describes the rise of Artificial Intelligence-generated characters that are as bizarre as they are beloved. It’s weird, it’s chaotic and that means it’s peak brain rot.
So, should you be worried? Here’s the takeaway. A little bit of boredom? Good. A little brain rot? Harmless fun. But if your main source of serotonin comes from artificially animated cappuccino-headed ballerinas, maybe step outside and touch some grass for a second.
Boredom, at its best, leads to creative sparks, meaningful reflection and mental rest. At its worst? It turns into a digital rabbit hole where you forget what year it is and start ironically saying things like “Ohio core.” So next time you feel bored, don’t panic. Don’t immediately reach for your phone — instead, go for a walk or call your mom. Because in a world of Ballerina Cappuccinas, real boredom might be your last link to sanity.
Written by: Iqra Ahmad — arts@theaggie.org
