'PDF to Brainrot' study tools are an iteration on a TikTok trend

43 pointsposted 7 months ago
by ZeljkoS
(techcrunch.com)

28 Comments

cullumsmith

7 months ago

There is a small segment of parents who completely prevent their children from accessing these brainrot platforms. Usually these kids are in homeschool groups with other like-minded families, with no phones or screen time.

I often wonder if this cohort will be the future elite class, or if they will be so incompatible with their peers that they'll end up forming insular communities amongst themselves (like the Amish).

michaelt

7 months ago

> I often wonder if this cohort will be the future elite class, or if they will be so incompatible with their peers that they'll end up forming insular communities amongst themselves (like the Amish).

There's also a third option: They might just turn out normal.

jvanderbot

7 months ago

I'm fairly certain (having been homeschooled for a while) that they'll just grow up pretty normal, possibly advanced in some areas but have some part of themselves that feels out of touch since they never participated in the usual social rituals. Socialization is hugely important, and a lot of success is just being a relatable person that's easy to work with. (Once you have grit, education, etc)

llm_trw

7 months ago

Remember the kids who weren't allowed to watch television in the 80s and 90s?

It's them all over again.

rrr_oh_man

7 months ago

Tiktok is a different kind of emotional brainrot.

pier25

7 months ago

Absolutely. Plus there's content available 24/7 and it's a lot more addictive than anything on television.

I was a kid in the 80s and there wasn't that much content for kids back then. At least in my country.

GeoAtreides

7 months ago

oh my god, it's always the same thing

Socrate-the-youths this, television that

No, social media is not like anything else before it. Algorithmic informational hoses are not like television and the harm they do is not like whatever Socrates complained 2500 or so years ago.

Can we try to at least have a normal discussion without repeating the same tired platitudes over and over again

llm_trw

7 months ago

We could, but you're just repeating what everyone from a previous generation said about the next generations preferred entertainment medium.

Also Socrates wasn't the one complaining, he was the one killed by those doing the complaining. A simple mistake to make when one is looking for reasons to do the same.

whythre

7 months ago

American TikTok is literally a hyper addictive platform purpose built by the CCP to devour attention, waste time and sow division. It is not the same as television. Its widespread influence is a complete disaster for a healthy republic.

flessner

7 months ago

How does that explanation work when Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts are trying to do exactly the same?

namaria

7 months ago

Because they are constrained by selling advertising for profit, not for mass social engineering.

j4hdufd8

7 months ago

Isn't TikTok selling ads too?

Drakim

7 months ago

Everything in moderation, including moderation.

preommr

7 months ago

This fees like when our parents were worried about 'maymays' because that's what all the kids were talking about. I could easily see the same panic about how kids are now learning history through these images, and how teachers are assigning homework to make your own meme about a scientific fact.

Ultimately, these formats are passing entertainment and I doub they're going to have too much of an impact.

schwartzworld

7 months ago

I am going to go against the grain and say I think these sound great. Reading isn’t that easy for everybody, judging by the large numbers of adults I know who consume audiobooks over print/kindle. Sure, it sounds worse to have your information come as brainrot, but it will probably help lots of students. Reminds me of when I was a kid and you’d see newspaper articles about how note taking by hand is more effective than using a computer (it’s not).

As to the videos, as an adhd kid who studied with the tv on, I guess I just don’t see the problem.

Qem

7 months ago

Does it work? What is content retention like?

throwawayqqq11

7 months ago

I suspect it doesnt really work.

Maybe you know the mind numbing state of brainrot clips or excessive TV watching, back in the old days. Your alpha brainwaves go up as your consciousness tunes down. I cannot imagine this mind numbing state to create complex and lasting new knowledge.

4gotunameagain

7 months ago

[flagged]

rnewme

7 months ago

Is this snark or based on actual data? Is there relevant research? I would logically assume person would just zone out and retention would be nil

jumpoddly

7 months ago

Is there relevant research? For torture?!

The gp is referencing a famous scene from Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of A Clockwork Orange.

rnewme

7 months ago

After learning about nazi torture experiment camps, Japanese torture experiment camps, American torture tests on own citizens etc, yea, I would sadly expect that there is a body of knowledge on the topic :/

Thank you for elaborating on the reference, I still haven't had the chance to see that movie

greatgib

7 months ago

Perfect trend on our speedway run to Idiocracy...

I guess it is just lacking having students drinking Gatorade at the same time that they "PDF to brainrot" study to ensure that they will be well educated. Because, as you know, "it gots electrolytes"...

rldjbpin

7 months ago

quite interesting to see the application of language and speech models for automating current trends.

i wonder about its efficacy, however. don't recall any brainrot videos whose information ever retained with me after the fact.

while i don't actively consume such content, this is definitely an evolution of past internet trends that many of us might have interacted with. like the someone speaking over an unrelated game playing in the background is reminiscent of "commentary" channels on youtube. this is why i would refrain from making any active criticism for those who enjoy this.

Pigalowda

7 months ago

Attention building requires work and discipline. It’s really hard to build it up and so easy to lose it. This is just more idiocracy. More and more. Oh well.