The "Disgustingly Educated" Trend Is Peak Internet—And That's Fine
"I want to be disgustingly overeducated."
That viral X post from 2022 has mutated into a full-blown movement. Scroll TikTok or Instagram now, and you'll find creators swapping clothing hauls for book stacks, promising to transform viewers into walking encyclopedias in minutes flat. Need optimization? They've got brain hacks for that. Plato's Republic awaits, and apparently, you can speed-run it.
The trend migrated from X to Reddit (r/booksuggestions, r/selfimprovement) before colonizing TikTok, where it joins the platform's rotating cast of self-improvement fads. Last year, it was the "curriculum trend"—monthly learning agendas complete with skills, creative projects, and required reading. Self-development is social media's favorite renewable resource.
There's something almost hopeful here. As we increasingly outsource cognition to AI, watching people voluntarily crack open difficult books feels like resistance. Social media demonstrably erodes memory, focus, and attention—the very tools learning requires—so reclaiming them has value.
But let's distinguish: learning for itself versus learning to be *seen* learning. Substack has made intellectualism an aesthetic. Any trend promising "less screen time" while keeping you scrolling deserves skepticism.
This is the intelligence Olympics, internet-style. And what is the internet if not underqualified experts lecturing from soapboxes?
Still, context matters. With the current administration dismantling arts, science, and truth itself, pseudointellectualism beats anti-intellectualism.
So, if the most insufferable person you know is becoming disgustingly educated in 2026? Honestly? Good for them.