Brain Rot

Age of Overload

We're living in a world where one is getting continuous (24/7) overload of information. Smartphones act as the primary gateway for this information. We cannot give up on smartphones because its importance in today's world is same as of a stick in stone age. You cannot survive without it.

Behind this gateway are three categories of apps by locus of agency:

  1. User-Dominant Systems (Tools): Agency resides with the user. If no other human exists, does the app still fully work? If yes → this category.

    System works for you, you need not work, and you get the value.

    It includes:

    • Core utilities: Clock, alarm, calendar, wallet, camera, dictionary, calculator, file manager, notes
    • Infrastructure-grade services: Maps, UPI, offline-first tools In my opinion, Google Maps and UPI are the best digital innovation of the 21st century so far.

  2. Peer-Dominant Systems (Mediators): Agency resides with another human. Without another person on the other side, is the app meaningless? If yes → this category.

    System doesn't work, and you get the value only through human participation.

    It includes:

    • Communication and coordination: Email (gmail, outlook), WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord
    • Human-mediated services: Food delivery, ride hailing and pooling, shopping, tutoring

  3. Platform-Dominant Systems (Simulated Worlds): Agency resides with the system itself. Does the app continue to act on me even when no one addresses me directly? If yes → this category.

    System does not work, you work, and system gets the value.

    It includes 99% (my feelings) of the modern:

    • Social media: X, Instagram, Reddit, YouTube
    • News
    • Video games
    • Entertainment
    • Pornography

Attention as a Business Model

Most modern digital platforms are designed to maximize user engagement, because attention directly drives revenue. This is not incidental. It is the result of deliberate choices made by large companies employing thousands of engineers and data scientists in a competitive race for attention.

At the center of this system is a digital model of each user, a continuously updated profile built from clicks, likes, pauses, scrolls, and viewing time. These models are powerful enough not only to predict behavior, but to shape it. In many cases, this data is monetized or shared with third parties, often without meaningful user awareness or informed consent.

Recommendation algorithms use these models to determine what content is shown, amplified, or effectively hidden. Over time, they have learned to exploit several well-known psychological tendencies:

  1. Confirmation bias:
    Content that aligns with existing beliefs is prioritized, forming echo chambers that reduce cognitive effort and increase engagement.

  2. Emotional amplification:
    Content that triggers outrage, fear, or shock reliably outperforms neutral material and is therefore algorithmically amplified.

  3. Bandwagon effect (herd behavior):
    Likes, shares, and trending signals act as social proof, nudging users toward popular opinions and behaviors and creating fear of missing out.

  4. Operant conditioning:
    Infinite scroll, autoplay, and unpredictable rewards rely on intermittent reinforcement. It is one of the strongest known mechanisms for habit formation, similar to slot machines and many games.

What Happens to the Brain Over Time

Over time, these dynamics create self-reinforcing feedback loops that alter cognitive and emotional regulation. Long-term exposure is associated with measurable changes in brain function, particularly reduced effectiveness of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) - the region responsible for executive control, impulse inhibition, and long-term decision-making.

As PFC regulation weakens, behavior shifts from deliberate control to reward-driven reactivity. The PFC functions as the brakes of the brain. When it weakens, consumption accelerates like gas without brakes.

The resulting symptom pattern is increasingly consistent and observable:

1. The reward system becomes over-sensitive

The brain adapts to fast, intense rewards. Ordinary life begins to feel dull. In simple terms, the dopamine system is overstimulated.

You can see it as:
Getting bored easily, craving constant stimulation, feeling unsatisfied even when nothing is wrong.

2. Waiting and self-control break down

When the brain expects instant reward, it struggles to delay gratification or persist through effort.

You can see it as:
Impatience, quitting early, choosing short-term pleasure over long-term benefit, acting without thinking; knowing better but doing it anyway.

3. Attention span shortens

The brain learns to jump instead of stay.

You can see it as:
Difficulty reading or focusing for long, constant task-switching, discomfort with quiet or slow moments.

4. Emotional regulation weakens

With reduced PFC control, emotions trigger faster and with greater intensity.

You can see it as:
Irritability, mood swings, overreacting to small problems, low frustration tolerance.

5. Anxiety and depression increase

Constant stimulation followed by emotional instability exhausts the system. Stress becomes chronic and motivation declines.

You can see it as:
Persistent tension, low mood, emotional numbness, loss of motivation or meaning, feeling overwhelmed without a clear cause.

6. Social withdrawal and loneliness emerge

Real-life interaction requires focus, patience, and emotional regulation and provides bonding signals (such as oxytocin) that screens cannot. As these capacities weaken, meaningful connection declines.

You can see it as:
Avoiding face-to-face interaction, shallow relationships, preference for low-effort contact, feeling lonely despite frequent online interaction.

Taken together, these effects suggest that engagement-optimized platforms are not merely influencing momentary attention, but reshaping the brain in ways that extend far beyond the screen. It would be accurate to call them digital drugs.

What Helps (Digital Well-Being)

There is no single fix, but certain practices consistently help restore balance by strengthening attention, self-regulation, and real-world connection: