Definition: The pervasive decay of factual reality caused by media outlets presenting heavily biased opinion as objective news, leading to mass confusion and societal breakdown. It spreads like a cognitive virus, making people argue passionately about completely fictional narratives while genuine facts wither and die unnoticed. The hallmarks are outrage fatigue, conspiracy thinking as default, and the unsettling feeling that you can’t trust anything you see or hear anymore. It turns discourse into a dumpster fire fueled by confirmation bias and deliberate misinformation.
Example: “Tried watching the evening broadcast but had to turn it off; the Truth Rot was so thick I could practically smell the burning brain cells.” “Our family dinners are impossible now thanks to Truth Rot – Uncle Dave spends hours ranting about lizard people running the weather satellites.”