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The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure

Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt

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Founder connections

  • Michael BloombergSigned endorsement and reading recommendation
    Lukianoff’s organization publishes Bloomberg’s signed recommendation of this book in its Fall 2018 quarterly. This does not establish completed reading.
    Source

Summary

Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt examine conflict, anxiety and restrictions on debate in American education. They argue that treating young people as fragile, placing feelings above evidence and dividing people into good and evil groups can hinder development.

The book connects these ideas with changes in parenting, play, social media and universities. It asks how families and institutions can help people become more independent and better able to handle disagreement.

  • SourcePublisher: The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure · Book description: The Coddling of the American Mind

Why read it Our view

Read it to examine the authors’ claims about how people learn to face disagreement and difficulty. Distinguish the psychological evidence, the campus cases and the proposed remedies. Ask what would count against an explanation before applying it to another group.