The Queen of RichTok makes $500,000 necklaces seem boring, back-to-school trends come with a Y2K flair, and AI researchers are preparing for the worst. But first:
Slang of the Week – “6-7”
Like many of Gen Alpha’s slang (think “Skibidi” and “Ohio”), “6-7” has an ambiguous meaning and can be applied to as many situations as teens can find. In general, though, the term is used as a comedic interruption whenever someone mentions a number or basically anything close to the words “six” or “seven.” Middle school educator and TikToker Mr. Lindsay recently explained that, at the start of this school year, he’s seen a substantial rise in the usage of “6-7.” His conclusion being that, because of the adaptability and vague nature of the slang, we might be hearing “6-7” a lot in the next couple of months—or even years.
And now for our three conversations…
1. That’s Rich
What it is: In one of her latest TikToks, Becca Bloom quietly donned a $500,000 necklace and talked about the jewelry like she was describing what she had for breakfast.
Why it feels unreal: TikTok’s reigning RichTok queen softly narrates scenes of luxury while wearing jewelry worth more than the average American home. Publications like Time and The Wall Street Journal highlight how her videos feel soothing, even when that “soothing” includes feeding her Scottish Fold cat, Oscar, a private-chef-prepared, caviar-laced breakfast from a Versace platter (he skips the caviar). The contrast between her calm tone and outright excess is jarring, and some wonder if teens consuming this kind of content are being lulled into a financial fantasy, framed as just… ordinary life. At some point, it’s not lifestyle content, it’s economic science fiction.
Continue the conversation: How does it make you feel watching ultra-wealthy influencers?
2. Looks Familiar
What it is: This year’s back-to-school trends will feel very nostalgic to elder millennial parents, with big denim, low-slung sweatpants, and baby doll tees in high demand.
Why what’s old is what’s new: Thrifted high-end denim and luxury-brand tees are pretty easy to find for a bargain on Vinted, Depop, and your local thrift shop—three of Gen Z’s favorite places to snag a deal. But not every vintage look is, well, vintage; retailers Hollister, Pacsun, and American Eagle rolled out new Y2K-inspired lines this fall for those who prefer their brand names brand new. Trend reporters say baggy sweats paired with a cropped top, Sambas and Adidas sneakers, satin-tied baby-doll tops, seashell jewelry, and bohemian-inspired peasant blouses are in-demand for young women looking to pull together a back-to-school fit that they would call “fire.” And for boys, marble-dyed and burnout style tee shirts, band tees, Nike everything, and bleach-blonde hair that recalls the surfer-style peak of the early aughts are all back en vogue. By the way, leggings are dead. (Long live leggings.)
Continue the conversation: What trends would you be happy to never see again?
3. Is This the End?
What it is: More and more AI researchers and consultants are preparing for catastrophic changes to our world, as reported by Business Insider.
How they’re preparing: Some of these AI experts are building shelters. Others have stopped saving for retirement. Others are embracing the “smart-to-hot” lifestyle shift, which involves giving up the cultivation of intelligence (in which AI will always outperform us) and just trying to become more physically attractive. Still others in the Bay Area describe turning to drugs and debauchery in the face of impending doom. A venture capital investor named Vishal Maini tells writer Rob Price, “I think it makes sense to just adopt a little bit of a bucket-list-mentality around this. Do what’s important to you in the time that we have.” So, how should Christians be thinking about this moment?
Let’s translate this one further…
Maybe these perspectives just come from a place of extreme, paranoid groupthink. Maybe AGI (or, “artificial general intelligence”) will never even get created, because the “general intelligence” of the human brain is actually too complicated to replicate. Maybe, even if AGI does get created, it really will be as friendly and helpful as its most optimistic devotees promise.
Or maybe, these AI experts are right to be concerned.
Even if they are correct—what, practically, does living well in the face of that look like? If a handful of people in Silicon Valley unleash the actual apocalypse onto our world, what would a reasonable response be from the rest of us?
In 1948, C.S. Lewis wrote an essay called “On Living in an Atomic Age.” In it, he said,
If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.
In other words, we should go on living as well as we can, in the normal ways.
In 1 Corinthians 15:32, the Apostle Paul writes, “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’” In other words, if this life is all we really have, we should live it up, party, and do whatever we want with the time we have left. But if the dead are raised—meaning, if the resurrection of Jesus really happened—then the meaning of this life gets reinterpreted by the ending. Eternal life is available to us, and the end will not be the end.
Maybe nothing too disastrous will happen with the rollout of AI. But even if it does, Christians have a hope beyond anything this world can throw at us.
Continue the conversation:- Why do you think we keep building AI despite so many fears about it going wrong?
- When you think about the future, how do you feel? What do you picture?
- How would you explain the hope that Jesus offers us in spite of an uncertain future?
For more context and nuance about AI, check out our newest episode of the Ask Axis podcast, as well as our newest YouTube video about why some people are developing romantic relationships with AI chatbots.
On your way out, here’s a quick survey of some of the rest of the cultural landscape:
- Europe’s premiere gaming conference, Gamescom, kicked off this week, with new games being detailed and announced, including a new Lego Batman game.
- Christian musician Forrest Frank has surpassed Drake in terms of monthly listeners on YouTube Music.
- The Cambridge Dictionary has officially added the words skibidi and delulu.
- Educator and influencer Hank Green helped create a successful productivity app called Focus Friend, in which going to distracting apps prevents your cute pet bean from being able to finish knitting.
- A 2017 book about resisting tyranny has sold over 250,000 copies this year after going viral on TikTok.
Parenting together,
Evan Barber and the Axis Team
PS: Talking with your teen about what’s going on in the world means staying informed, but that doesn’t mean you have to be glued to the news or doom-scrolling headlines. Our friends at The Pour Over publish a free, Christ-centered newsletter that keeps you up to date without the bias, outrage, and noise. Check it out here—it’s news you actually want to read!