From heated political arguments with family members at the holiday table to the increasing and unrelenting toxicity of social media (not only about politics but also such seemingly innocuous topics as Taylor Swift, football, or fashion), we see polarization everywhere. We look less like “one nation under God” and more like warring tribes trying to eradicate each other.

Speaking of social media, Oxford University Press has also announced its Word of the Year, and it is … “brain rot!” Their press release says it “gained new prominence this year as a term used to capture concerns about the impact of consuming excessive amounts of low-quality online content, especially on social media.”

What’s especially interesting about “brain rot” is that its rise to prominence was not primarily the work of uptight academics or commentators, but social media users themselves, especially on TikTok. Oxford Languages president Casper Grathwohl noted “that the word brain rot has been adopted by gen Z and gen Alpha, those communities largely responsible for the use and creation of the digital content the term refers to.”

In other words, we know we’re polarized but we kind of enjoy it, and we know excessive social media is rotting our brains, but we’re almost proud of it. How can we reverse this downward spiral? What kind of massive societal shift would need to take place in order for Merriam-Webster and Oxford to identify culture-defining terms next year that aren’t thoroughly negative and depressing?

Originally published in Higher Ground.