Brain rot, a funky term or a real threat?

Oxford’s 2024 Word of the Year is brain rot—a term once used humorously, now backed by real science.

Mindless scrolling, doomscrolling, and digital addiction are rewiring our brains for distraction, instant gratification, and cognitive decline.

Studies show excessive screen time can shrink gray matter, weaken memory, and impair decision-making.

Luckily, the brain is adaptable. 🧠

By setting boundaries, curating what you consume, and prioritizing real-world experiences, you can rewire your brain for focus, resilience, and deep thinking.

A very interesting article here.

Business life stories

  Do you enjoy telling stories? What kinds?

How important is storytelling in your culture? 

Are storytelling traditions a thing of the past or should they be preserved for future generations?

Watch Daveed Diggs acceptance speech in Tony Awards. What do you notice about his use of a story?

FOCUS ON

When telling stories, jokes, and anecdotes, Present tenses might often be used instead of past tnses. This can help the listener experience the story as it was happening right now and to them, thus making it more engaging. 

Read the following Aboriginal fable. Change the verbs to an appropriate present tense.

Rainbow Serpent: Aboriginal Story from Australia 

One day, it started to rain. And it rained like it had never rained before. Rain fell for days and days and the world was becoming flooded with water. Two young men, Bil-bil, or the Rainbow Lorikeet brothers, had no shelter, so they came to Goorialla, the Rainbow Serpent. They asked for help sheltering from the rain. The rainbow serpent was hungry and tricked the young men, '1 have no shelter, but you can hide in my mouth. You'll be safe from the rain in there.' The young men climbed into Goorialla's mouth and he closed it shut, swallowing both men. 

He soon realized that people would notice the young men missing and come looking for them. He knew they would find their tracks leading right into his mouth. He didn't want to be caught and so decided to hide in the only place he knew he would be safe: the sky. He saw people's sadness at losing these two young men, so he decided to try and make them happy again by turning his body into big arc of beautiful colours. 

Now, just after it rains, you can see the Rainbow Serpent sharing his beautiful colours with the people on the ground as his way of saying sorry for taking those Rainbow Lorikeet brothers.

 VOCABULARY

OWN IT!
Now, using the tips we explored today, turn your childhood story into an inspirational one to promote your company's message.

Saving space

 What do you do to save space at home or at the office?

People can become very creative when they are pressed to find space.

For example, in this famous Bangkok market, Medlong, stall owners are required to move out of the way to let trains get through! Shoppers must stand to the one side to let train the pass. 

  

Read  these other ingenious solutions:

What are the advantages and disadvantages of each space-saving solution?

Could any work in your town or city? Why?

Which would you be happy to experience?

LANGUAGE: Causative Verbs

Practice more here

It must have been invented by....

 When and where do you think there were invented?

brain surgery, concrete, eye make-up, water sanitation systems

Read the text and check your predictions

Which information did you find the most surprising? 

How certain is it that the sentences are true? 

Write certainly true (CT), possibly true (PT) or certainly not true (NT). 

1 Egyptians invented make-up.  

2 Both men and women in ancient Egypt wore make-up. 

3. Our ancestors knew about bacteria. 

4. It was a bad idea to perform brain surgery.

5. Roman concrete was good as modern concrete. 

6. Roman concrete was very strong. 

7 The people in the Indus valley were safe from dangerous diseases. 

Find the sentences in the text that told you the answers to Exercise 3. Match the modal structures with their meaning (1-4). Then read the Grammar box to check. 

1 It's very probable or certain that something happened 

2 It's quite possible that something happened. 

3 It's impossible that something happened. 

4 It was wrong to do something. 

GRAMMAR Speculating about the past 

You can talk about possibility and certainty in the X past using the structure: modal verb have X past participle. 

• Use must have if it's very probable or certain that something happened. 

Some of these operations must have been successful. 

• Use may have or might have if it's possible that something happened. 

Egyptians may/might have been the first to use make-up. 

• Use can't/couldn't have if it's impossible that something happened. 

Roman concrete can't have been as strong as modern concrete. 

• Use should/shouldn'"t have to talk about mistakes or express criticism. 

They shouldn't have been doing surgery then.

Practice