but tiktoks short video format giving us that immediate dopamine hit is what's actually rotting the brain.

I feel this can apply to a lot of different apps and websites though, including the one we are on right now. A lot of online content by design is there to be very quickly absorbed and that is what makes it popular as I think most people tend to be online for quick timekilling moments of procrastination. It's why an image post or a gif on reddit will usually tend to get more upvotes than a video or a text post as a lot of users just don't want to invest that extra time.

Same way a lot of people get their news by simply just reading headlines, and that is a pre-internet phenomenon too, which is also damaging in a different way.

The World moves fast and feels like it goes faster as we progress so think anything that is bitesize and quick to absorb is always going to be popular. In terms of evolution I do wonder how it may alter us longer term.