newsletter brain rot

In case you missed it:

‘Brain rot’ was just announced as the Oxford Word of the Year.

It’s defined as “the deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state” after consuming lots of low-value content online.

What qualifies as low-value content, you ask?

The Lord of the Rings memes my sister and I are constantly sending each other, for starters…

Clips of people pranking each other in hilarious ways…

Watching random objects get crushed by a hydraulic press…

And of course, my personal favorite:

Videos of pandas eating carrots, watermelons and other crunchy snacks.

(If you haven’t seen one of these before, do yourself a favor and look one up. They are mesmerizing lol)

Anyhow…

As I reflected on this highly scientific phenomenon...

I realized it's not limited to social media.

In fact, I notice a similar deterioration in my mental state after reading too many curation-style newsletters.

All those assorted links and snippets?

It's too many quick hits of dopamine.

And in most cases, not enough meat on the bone to fill my belly.

I'd much rather read an entertaining story or insightful perspective that's got more room to breathe.

This is one of the many reasons why I'm so bullish about story-driven newsletters in 2025 and beyond:

Because they naturally cultivate an audience with longer attention spans.

A trait that correlates with higher consumption rates across all your paid offers...

And therefore, better results for those who buy them.

Some food for thought, if you can stomach it ;)

Jim Hamilton

P.S:

Speaking of focus and attention spans...

I rarely write in silence.

I find it much easier to get into the groove with some kind of music playing. 

House, future beats, lo-fi, instrumentals, etc.

If you're wired the same way...

I just stumbled across a new YouTube channel called Thinking Music Radio that I think you'll dig.

I've had this very apropos mix on repeat lately:

Thinking Music Radio - brain rot