The Coddling Of The American Mind (Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt) - Book Review

Published: Feb. 13, 2021, 12:02 p.m.

What are the reasons for the rise of safe spaces, microaggressions and extreme social justice on American college campuses? 'The Coddling Of The American Mind' by Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt attempts to explain the psychology and cognitive distortions of iGen (also known as Generation Z). Three Great Untruths have been adopted by these students which has led to the culture of 'safetyism' in which safety has become a sacred value that cannot be questioned.

I summarised the book as follows. "It's a detailed and critical examination of a particular type of mass psychological mania. Greg & Jonathan present sound arguments of well-balanced research that shows how overprotection and technological change is creating an energetic but poorly directed culture amongst students. It provides plenty of specific and broad advice on how to fix the problems and my only negative was that I personally have become less interested in the topic than I was say 2 or 3 years ago and therefore found myself becoming bored in parts."

As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!

Timeline:
(0:00) - Synopsis
(2:36) - Anti-Wisdom: The three great untruths
(5:40) - Safetyism: An uncalculated risk
(8:00) - Personal Observations
(12:58) - Summary
(14:47) - Pragmatic Takeaway: No screen Tuesday


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