A Guide to Children’s Culture for Out-of-Touch Adults: What Is “Hurkle-Doerkling”?
This week’s dive into the ocean of youth culture has been mostly a mystery. Why are young people using AI to dress women? Why do kids throw slush in their pickup trucks? How can you “hurkle-hurkle”? And most importantly: why are videos of people getting in trouble for wearing big shoes so funny?
#DignifAI uses AI to add clothes
It was terrible when internet nerds started using artificial intelligence to create porn with people who don’t want porn made of them, but the newest trend from the darkest, dumbest corner of the internet, 4chan, is using artificial intelligence to “fix” images of provocatively dressed people (almost always women) to cover them. They add more “modest” clothing, erase tattoos, and otherwise “enhance the dignity” of women whose clothing styles are frowned upon. The Twitter account @dignifai is dedicated to creating and sharing images such as:
Some of this practice appears to be a snotty response to the AI-generated deepfakes of Taylor Swift that recently appeared on Twitter, but as usual, the point was missed. It is unacceptable to dress people who did not agree to appear dressed, just as it is unacceptable to undress people who did not agree to this. Women can’t win. If they choose to dress modestly, they will be shamed and ridiculed, and their images will be manipulated to remove their clothing. If they choose to dress provocatively, they will be shamed and ridiculed, and their image will be manipulated to give them “worthiness.”
Why do videos of people getting in trouble for wearing big shoes seem funny?
However, AI is not used solely for evil. There’s a countervailing force embodied in the TikTok account Bluweesh , which collects AI-generated videos of people getting in trouble for wearing big shoes. It’s impossible to explain. This is a must see . I’m not sure that kind of absurdist humor really balances the moral scales, but it’s still the best use of AI-generated video I’ve ever seen.
What is harkle-durkling?
The newest trend on TikTok is extolling the benefits of hurcle hurcles. Herkle the Durkling lounging in bed past the time it’s time for you to get up. You may know this as ” bed rot ” or a self-care practice. It differs from “laziness” or “crippling depression” in that herkle durkling is a conscious decision to reject the demands that life makes on us, even if only for a few hours.
The phrase caught on when actress and singer Kira Kosarin used it in her TikTok . Kosarin said it was a Scottish word, and she was right. The word “Hurkle” first appeared in John Jameson‘s Etymological Dictionary of the Scots Language in 1808 with the definition “to gather a body together”. becomes popular on social networks. I’ve been a longtime fan of this practice and am glad it’s catching on.
Boomer Avatars
I usually study the lives and habits of young people, but I decided to turn the glass back and see what young people see when they look at us old people. No wonder they mostly see how lame we are; in particular, how lame our profile photos are.
Young people have noticed that boomers (and Gen Xers, let’s be honest) almost always post profile photos of themselves in their cars, wearing sunglasses and usually with a beard. This image was once thought to represent Trump voters, but in reality it is a generational thing that crosses political lines.
According to one widely held theory, originally posted on Reddit , “sunglasses create emotional distance between the subject and its action.” According to this theorist, cars and curtains are an attempt to look cool, and “one of the ways they “look cool” is through the rigidity that comes from a lack of concern for other people.”
It’s an interesting theory, but here’s a more reasonable explanation: We wear sunglasses and beards in our profile photos because they cover our faces, and our faces are one hell of a disaster zone.
TikTokers throw slush into their trucks
We may look lame in our profile pictures, but there’s a growing trend among kids of throwing slush in their trucks, so who’s lame now? Videos of people coming out of stores with very large slushies and then throwing them at the windshield are going viral on TikTok. They are actually very good. Check out examples on the page for “Bag Season” by Jay Lewis , a favorite soundtrack for slushy videos. Here is (apparently) the first one , a naked imitation , a parody , someone does not approve , and someone goes too far . As with the “Big Boots” trend, there’s no obvious rhyme or reason for the self-wetting, other than it’s a good way to show off a lifted pickup (or Bubba Truck) and it’s fun. I totally approve of this trend.
Viral Video of the Week: Apple Vision Pro and Cybertruck
Instagram user Supercar Ron originally posted the viral video this week . It shows a guy driving a Cybertruck, using Apple Vision Pro, driving down the highway. Is this a vision of the future or is the driver just a giant nerd? Or is there something else going on?
The video was re-posted on Twitter , where it was viewed by more than 17 million people in the first few days, with many leaving comments about the dark path humanity is on or simply saying “haha”. But some users called it a scam, noting that the Cybertruck doesn’t yet have self-driving functionality. Supercar Ron agreed and explained that the video was part of a skit, self-driving was not activated, and the Apple Vision Pro headset did not display anything during the filming.
Even though self-driving fills me with horror, I think a self-driving car driven by a fool in a virtual reality headset is safer than a driver who is texting or a driver who is drunk, and we have accepted that these people are there all the time on the highway.