A new and oddly named social media trend is encouraging users to become cleverer, but critics warn it may be more about showing off than genuine learning. The phenomenon, known as being 'disgustingly educated', has exploded online over the last 18 months, filling platforms like TikTok and Reddit with guides on how to boost your intellect.
What Does 'Disgustingly Educated' Actually Mean?
Forget formal schooling; this trend is all about autodidacticism. It emerged prominently in 2024 within specific corners of Reddit, where users began sharing curated lists designed to rapidly expand knowledge. These lists often include improving non-fiction books, classic essays, and old films deemed essential for a well-rounded mind.
The movement has since migrated to the video-centric world of TikTok. Here, influencers directly instruct their followers on which books to read to gain expertise in niche subjects, from Greek mythology and extinction cycles to emotional intelligence. The core promise is a fast track to becoming noticeably more intellectual.
Enrichment or Performance?
On the surface, promoting reading and learning seems unequivocally positive. However, a significant critique has emerged. Detractors argue that the trend risks replacing the genuine achievement of knowing things with a performative desire to simply appear knowledgeable.
The concern is that on a platform often characterised by short-form, shallow content, a viral drive for intellectualism could foster a new wave of pseudointellectualism. The act of reading itself—a private pursuit for millennia—is rebranded as a public badge of extreme cleverness, potentially done more for social media validation than personal enrichment.
The Deeper Motivation: Digital Detox?
Some observers suggest the trend is about more than book lists. It taps into a growing cultural anxiety about attention spans and constant digital connectivity. Becoming 'disgustingly educated' is often framed as an act of rebellion against the dopamine-driven scroll, requiring followers to go offline for meaningful periods to engage with substantial material.
Yet, an irony persists: this call to disconnect is primarily spread through influencer videos on TikTok. The medium used to promote deep focus might itself be the biggest obstacle to achieving it.
The trend also highlights our evolving relationship with knowledge in the age of AI. As one exchange in the original coverage noted, even the etymology of a word like 'gross' can be instantly outsourced to ChatGPT, prompting the question: are we cultivating intelligence or just becoming adept at curating it?
Whether this trend represents a sincere cultural shift towards self-improvement or merely a new way to curate an intellectual persona online remains to be seen. It has, however, successfully sparked a conversation about what it means to be truly educated in the digital era.
