Brainrot (A Cultural History)

A provocative examination of the origins of the ephemeral moronic visual media that has imprisoned the attention of people across the globe in the 21st century—from a lively new voice in Generation Z.

On today’s social platforms, instant messages, and video streaming services, we are constantly inundated by brainrot. While it amuses us with its bite-sized, accessible humor, its relentless presence seemingly reprograms our minds to function at a lowest common denominator. But is brainrot truly new? Or has it been with humanity since its very inception?

In the prehistoric cave paintings in Lascaux, France, there is a seemingly humorous depiction of a man/bird hybrid. Is this humanity’s first work of brainrot? Were Ancient Egyptian depictions of anthropomorphic animals on papyri doing human activities the first cat memes? Were cartoon marginalia painted by medieval monks on illuminated manuscripts a medieval form of brainrot?

In Brainrot: A Cultural History, Olivia Shelly Alcott traces this phenomenon to its very origins in our neuropsychology and across the world—from Mesopotamia to feudal Japan to the advent of mass media in the 20th century—telling the story of its evolution through our shared history. Insightful and fun, it’s a book that, once you’ve read it, you’ll never be able to look at an Instagram reel the same way again.