Also called Galaxy Brain · Mind Blown Template · Four-Panel Brain Meme
Four ideas, each presented as more enlightened than the last. Start with something ordinary and let the glowing brains make the final, ridiculous option look brilliant.
The right column shows four increasingly bright brain images. The blank left column is for four approaches to the same problem, read from top to bottom.
The visual promises growing intelligence, but the captions can move toward needless complexity or an obvious mistake. That mismatch makes the last row the punchline.
The format developed alongside the “whomst” meme, pairing increasingly elaborate versions of “who” with increasingly elaborate brain images. Know Your Meme records a popular early example posted by janskishimanski to Reddit’s r/dankmemes on January 31, 2017. [1]
During February 2017, users applied the same progression to other subjects. The labels Expanding Brain and Galaxy Brain describe a format where the supposed improvement is often ironic. [1]
Write one option in each white box. Keep the four lines similar in length so the reader can follow the progression without stopping for a paragraph.
Decide what gets more extreme: effort, confidence, complexity, or absurdity. Make the last row take that trend one step too far.
Original captions to try with this template.
The final solution defeats the reason for moving the phone in the first place.
Each step removes more explanation while claiming to be a better way to communicate.
An increasingly organized approach ends at the same forgotten-password problem.
References for this template. Example captions are original.
Traces the format’s connection to whomst and its early 2017 spread.
