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Re:Thinking with Adam GrantGen Z's way of talking, explained | ReThinking
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At a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
How Gen Z and Gen Alpha slang evolves under algorithms’ incentives
- “Brainrot” is framed as both a joking aesthetic of algorithm-driven nonsense and a broader anxiety about online mental deterioration, not simply “bad words.”
- “Algospeak” emerges from users and creators adapting speech to platform incentives—virality, clip-farming, and perceived (sometimes exaggerated) moderation and suppression.
- Modern “the algorithm” is described as a machine-learning pipeline (many algorithms, not one) that personalizes feeds and intensifies meme spread through short-form video attention dynamics.
- Internet slang spreads virally through identifiable conduits (notably African American English and 4chan), raising questions about cultural influence, appropriation, and power.
- Media literacy—understanding origins, incentives, and mediums—is positioned as essential as AI deepfakes and engagement-optimizing recommendations reshape offline culture too.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideas“Brainrot” is a meme genre as much as a diagnosis.
Aleksic distinguishes brainrot-as-harmful-content from brainrot-as-reflexive, ironic aesthetic pointing back to algorithmic overexposure and commodified trends (e.g., “labubu matcha Dubai chocolate”).
Algospeak is shaped by incentives and uncertainty, not just creativity.
People adjust language to chase reach (trends, clip farming) and to preempt moderation—even when suppression is less than they fear—because the platform’s rules feel opaque.
Modern recommendation systems amplify language change differently than earlier social media.
TikTok-style short-form video plus personalized, ML-based ranking creates stronger feedback loops, increasing time spent and accelerating the spread and recombination of memes.
Many “meaningless” memes still have social meaning.
Examples like “67” function as absurd references to the omnipresent algorithmic milieu and to the desire to be clipped/remixed into viral edits, not purely random noise.
Origins matter because language is a cultural “canary in the coal mine.”
Tracking where slang comes from can reveal broader cultural and political influence pathways—Aleksic claims a large share of internet slang traces to African American English and 4chan.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesThe idea is that brainrot as a, is a semantic class that points back to the algorithm.
— Adam Grant
But Algospeak is also, I think, more broadly any way that we talk online that is conditioned, uh, uniquely by the constraints and expressive possibilities of the algorithm.
— Adam Aleksic
I see language as sort of a, a bellwether, like a canary in the coal mine of greater cultural shifts.
— Adam Aleksic
By saying something right now, by you saying something, we're affecting the minds of all the people who are listening to this. Uh, that's, that's unbelievably powerful to me.
— Adam Aleksic
Algorithms don't recommend us the actual picture of reality. They recommend us what generates engagement.
— Adam Aleksic
SPEAKERS
Adam Grant
hostOrganizational psychologist and author known for popularizing concepts like “givers and takers.”
Adam Aleksic
guestLinguistics communicator and creator of “Etymology Nerd,” focused on slang, etymology, and internet language trends.
High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.
