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Why Is Your Kid Suddenly Talking About Socrates and Skeletons? Here’s What the Latest Viral Trend Is About

Trying to understand the confusing, ever-changing slang and crazy videos that flood your kids’ feeds is a losing battle. But a new crop of bizarre history reels, featuring a skeleton and the ancient philosopher Socrates (yes, really), may have you wondering whether your tweens could actually be learning something useful from their hours-long phone sessions.

I mean … sure? Bits of real history are mixed in to these incredibly popular and silly memes, which are spreading across the internet like democracy through ancient Greece. Of course, viral trends probably aren’t the best available teaching tool, but why not look for a silver lining?

Read on to check out the latest (and wackiest!) brain-rot video to catch fire, and learn how to make one of your own—although honestly, we suggest leaving this one to the kids.

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What’s the new viral meme featuring Socrates and skeletons?

The viral meme, created by Instagram’s @mr_datavisuals before expanding to TikTok, features an AI-generated skeleton strolling sunny Athens while super-odd scenarios are suggested.

The first—”What if you spent a week in ancient Greece?“—started a trend of increasingly absurd what-if situations about long-past Greek life, as in “What if you sold Nikes in ancient Greece?” In every one, Socrates arrives to argue with the bone man, spending hours philosophizing and positing annoying, hard-to-answer questions (“What is the meaning of justice?”).

And yet, the vids also serve up smart info about life in ancient Greece, using words like agora and drachmas and informing viewers that Nike was the Greek goddess of victory. Of course, other tidbits are more in line with teen brains, such as explaining that early Greeks used stall-less communal toilets … and wiped with the same shared sponge (eww!).

The series and its skeletal star have since expanded to other time periods (World War II, ancient Rome, the age of Vikings) and different long-ago cultures, like India, China and even America’s Wild West. But the bathroom humor is never far away, as one video details what various early peoples used before toilet paper was invented (bamboo, moss, corncobs).

How did Socrates get involved in this, exactly?

Socrates is involved as the perfect foil, since the great thinker invented the well-known and sometimes withering question-and-response approach known as the Socratic method. This technique probes topics deeply and cooperatively to point out assumptions and beliefs while also honing critical thinking.

As for the skeleton, he’s simply you—the viewer—and a more fun counterpart to the stern, serious philosopher. And who among us hasn’t wondered what would happen if we tried to sell fried chicken to the ancients? (Ask your kids.)

Why is this rage bait, and why does it drive kids nuts?

The skeleton vs. Socrates videos are classic rage bait: They frustrate and madden kids by pummeling them with questions, resulting in continued watching, clicking and commenting. Indeed, a barefoot, dusty dude wearing a sheet debating whether wind is real, what hello means or if you truly understand hunger is enough to send anyone screaming into the night.

But the setup itself also appeals, since kids are similar in the way they can pester ad nauseam. And the reels are rather funny, touching on relatable teen topics like homework, Chick-fil-A, sports and more.

How are people making these?

You can make these goofy videos with an AI meme generator. (Shocking, we know!) For example, a site like Supermeme.ai can take an idea or question and turn it into a fast meme without having to dig up templates, search for pictures, write zingy captions or learn graphic design. Nope, AI isn’t here to save the world.

Do you have a question about life in another time period that you think could be absolutely hilarious? Let me stop you right there. It’s tempting, but before you head down this AI rabbit hole yourself, know that your kid will likely label you totally cringe (#fail)—so maybe just enjoy this trend vicariously.

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Sources:

  • Instagram: “What if you spent a week in ancient Greece?”
  • TikTok: “What if you and Socrates sold Raising Cane’s in ancient Rome?”
  • TikTok: “What if you sold Nikes in ancient Greece?”

The post Why Is Your Kid Suddenly Talking About Socrates and Skeletons? Here’s What the Latest Viral Trend Is About appeared first on Reader's Digest.



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