BOOK SUMMARY 📖: The Coddling of the American Mind

In September of 2015, an article written by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff was published in The Atlantic titled “The Coddling of the American Mind.” 📰

At first glance, the title of this article could easily be mistaken for a right-wing polemic on “the snowflake generation” and “social justice warriors”. 🤬

But it’s far from it! In fact, the authors themselves are openly left-leaning in their political views! 💯

It was the insistence of their publisher asking for a more provocative title than the one they proposed that “Coddling” was born. (https://bit.ly/30URyJt) 😅

Initially, the article was written to discuss various instances happening on college campuses where students were protesting words, ideas, and subjects they deemed offensive. ✊

📌 Guest speakers who were coming to campus were being disrupted and shouted down.

📌 Ideas like “microaggressions”, “trigger warnings”, and “safe spaces” were being introduced and implemented by college administrators.

📌 Words were starting to be equated by some college students as “violence”.

📌 Colleges were catering to student’s demands with little critical discussion.

The point of Haidt and Lukianoff’s article was to illuminate the problems and to try and understand why they were occurring. 🙌

Haidt and Lukianoff could understand the measures being taken by colleges, measures such as Microaggression Training, were being done with good intentions. 👍

But coming from his work as a social psychologist, Haidt saw these measures as being 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲.

⚠️ The idea of “microaggressions” go against the very idea of not making the worst possible assumptions of other peoples’ intentions (a cognitive distortion known as “mind reading”).

⚠️ The idea of “trigger warnings” and “safe spaces” go against the very methods used in Exposure Therapy to combat phobias and feelings of anxiety.

⚠️ The idea of continuously giving into angry student’s demands reinforces the likelihood they will use the same angry methods for demands in the future.

With the publication of the article, the reception was…controversial! 😅

Many readers, including college faculty and students, sent in responses confirming Haidt and Lukianoff’s concerns. 👍

Both faculty members and college students expressed fears of being unable to share their different viewpoints outside the status quo of their peers, less they not be reported to college administrators. 🔱

Haidt and Lukianoff learned that some colleges had implemented a “Bias Reporting System”, where students could anonymously report anyone (including faculty) for sharing views they perceived to be discriminatory. 🚨

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 🚨

That said, there were also criticisms to Haidt and Lukianoff’s article as well. 👈

The primary criticism was that the authors were using only a few isolated incidents to justify their national concerns. In other words, they were inciting a moral panic over a minor problem. 😅

𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍…

Only a month after the article’s publication did another college incident happen. And then another. And then another. And then another. 🚨

One of the most infamous incidents happened 2 months later at Yale University. 😱

Erika Christakis, a lecturer at Yale Child Study Care Center had written an email expressing concern over whether Yale administrators should be giving guidance to students about appropriate and inappropriate Halloween costumes. 📧

She believed administrators should let the students make their own decisions and let them talk among each other if they had disagreements. 🗣️

After all, they are adults over 18 years old. 👍

“𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳”, she noted in her email. “𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺.” 😊

This email sparked outrage from some Yale students who interpreted Erika’s words as meaning she supported racist Halloween costumes. ❗

Soon after, around 150 student protesters surrounded the courtyard of Christakis’s home on campus, writing statements in chalk which included: “𝙒𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚”. 😠

Erika’s husband Nicholas went out to the courtyard to try and reason with them. Students demanded he apologize and renounce his wife’s email. 🤬

In a tense confrontation which lasted over 2 hours, Nicholas was accused of being “racist”, “offensive”, and “creating a space for violence”. 🤬

At a later point, one student even screamed in Nicholas’s face:

“𝙄𝙏 𝙄𝙎 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝘼𝘽𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝘾𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝘼𝙉 𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙐𝘼𝙇 𝙎𝙋𝘼𝘾𝙀! 𝙄𝙏 𝙄𝙎 𝘼𝘽𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝘾𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝘼 𝙃𝙊𝙈𝙀 𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙀! 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙎𝙃𝙊𝙐𝙇𝘿 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝙎𝙇𝙀𝙀𝙋 𝘼𝙏 𝙉𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏! 𝙔𝙊𝙐’𝙍𝙀 𝘿𝙄𝙎𝙂𝙐𝙎𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂!” 🤬

(Excerpt footage of the Yale incident: https://bit.ly/2zBgrPg)

Similar incidents echoed in the coming years. 📅

Another infamous incident happened at Evergreen State College. Every year the school took part in an Day of Absence tradition where minority students and faculty would voluntarily stay off campus to highlight their campus contributions. 🙌

But in 2017 the tradition was flipped. Administrators decided they would now ask white students and white faculty to voluntarily stay off campus to be educated on race issues. 😲

Biology professor Bret Weinstein (who openly identifies as a progressive and left-leaning libertarian) emailed the campus expressing concern over the change. 🙋‍♂️

Included in his email 📧:

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴…𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺. ⚖️

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴, 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 🙌

𝘖𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 – 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 – 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳.” 💯

As with Yale, this email sparked outrage. About a month after his email, students surrounded Weinstein’s classroom entrance and berated him. As with Christakis, students demanded Weinstein denounce his views and lose his job. 🤬

Campus police were called, but students barred them from reaching Weinstein so they had to call for backup. 🚓

The same student protesters eventually marched to the administration building, surrounded the College President’s office, and provided him the same beratement. 🤬

There was even a point where student protesters barricaded the main entrances to the administration building and refused to let President Bridges leave his office unless they escorted him. ❗

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦. ❗

(Excerpt footage of the Evergreen incident: https://bit.ly/2XZswqE)

For even more protest instances, I’ve provided Sources at the bottom of this post. ⬇️

So perhaps, you may have the same question I was also asking… 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧?! 😅

What initially started out as a small article in The Atlantic was now having its initial concerns realized. 🙌

By September 2018, Haidt and Lukianoff had far more incidents and insights to report on, which ultimately was to become their full-length book: “The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting up a Generation for Failure”. 📖

But before I get to the book, it’s important we back up for just a moment…✋

First off, what is the purpose of a university? What is the aim (or 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘴) of a university? 🤔

Most people I know would say it is to learn. To pursue truth. And yes, perhaps to also enjoy the frat parties! 😜

But this idea is even shown on the crests of universities like Harvard (“𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘴”/truth) and Yale (“𝘭𝘶𝘹 𝘦𝘵 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘴”/light and truth)! 😅

The point is: we go to a university to be enlightened, to be exposed to new ideas and viewpoints, to be among other students who may have different life experiences we can learn from. 🙌

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒔 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒔 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. 🙌

Let me emphasize: 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞. But when it becomes a substitute for truth and knowledge, it sets a dangerous precedent on the very purpose of what attending a university is all about. 🏫

In the book, Haidt and Lukianoff go into greater depth on what they see being taught on some college campuses.

The key word here I want to emphasize is “𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞”. The initial criticism directed at their article about overgeneralizing every college in fact turned out to be correct. 😅

So, for those who are concerned these incidents are reflective of every US college campus, you can be assured they are not! 😅

👉 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲. 👈

In the book, Haidt and Lukianoff talk about what’s being taught at them in what they call the Three Great Untruths.

🙌 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫.

𝘗𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘝𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥: 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 ‘𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘦’; 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴.

🙌 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐀𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬.

𝘗𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘝𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥: 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘪𝘢𝘴.

🙌 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐔𝐬 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦: 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞.

𝘗𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘝𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥: 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 (𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬-𝘢𝘯𝘥-𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦) 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Now of course, the authors are NOT saying these Great Untruths are LITERALLY being taught, but that they are taught IMPLICITLY. 🙌

Another big problem they mention is what’s known as “concept creep”, where the definition of words have grossly expanded in meaning over time in academia. 📚

📍 The idea of what constitutes “racism” has expanded from individual acts to now include an all-encompassing society (e.g. systemic racism, racial essentialism).

📍 The idea of what constitutes “trauma” has expanded from severe reactions to events like war to now normal aspects of life (e.g. divorce, bereavement, mean text messages).

📍 The idea of what constitutes “safety” has expanded from physical safety to now include “emotional safety” (e.g protection from criticisms you disagree with).

In other words: if you see 2 people fighting over what is or isn’t “violence”, there’s a great possibility they may be using 2 separate definitions of the word! 😅

The dictionary definition of “violence” is NOT the same definition being used in some academic circles, where speech has also come to be equated with “violence”. 😲

As one UC Berkeley alum wrote in an Op-Ed ✍️:

“Asking people to maintain peaceful dialogue with those who legitimately do not think their lives matter is a 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭.” 🤬

😩 “BUT DONALD! NONE OF WHAT YOU’RE SAYING TELLS ME WHY THIS IS HAPPENING!” 😩

Great point! That’s what I’m going to talk about right now! 😊

According to Haidt and Lukianoff, they propose the following reasons why they believe these things are happening. ⬇️

📌 𝐀𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

– Because of the political climate, liberal colleges have shifted even further to the Left, thus tribalism is quick to ostracize differing viewpoints out of fear and group loyalty.

– This in turn has created distrust and hostility among those further to the Right, who now see colleges as lacking political diversity (in some places the ratio of Liberal to Conservative professors is 17 to 1), which in turn encourages their racial provocations towards the Left (e.g. “social justice warriors”, “snowflake generation”).

📌 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐞𝐧 𝐙 (𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟔).

📌 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐝/𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.

– The paradox is children are safer today in the US more than any other time in history, yet at the same time they are also the most overprotected.

– Overprotection causes children to mature at much older ages. The emotional maturity of an 18 year old today is more equivalent to a 16 year old of the previous generation.

📌 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲.

– Parents driven by unrealistic fears of strangers and kidnappings (which are extremely rare in comparison to the 70’s and 80’s when it was a problem).

– Overuse of smartphones and social media.

– A rising competitiveness for parents to get their kids into top universities.

📌 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐬.

– Students are treated like customers, so there’s a financial incentive for colleges to continue giving into student’s demands.

– Market pressures to compete with other universities for future students.

– Bureaucratic means of resolving student’s problems may encourage students to become overly dependent on schools to solve their problems.

📌 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞.

– There’s an ongoing desire for social justice activism.

– Social justice movements can be used to remove barriers to equality of opportunity. But when social justice efforts aim to include fighting for equality of outcome, it’s aiming for an goal which cannot be reached without also violating equal opportunity.

– Correlation does not equal causation. When there is a correlation of an identity group membership with an outcome gap, it does not automatically mean it is evidence of discrimination. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t.

If individuals cannot raise alternative possible causes without also being shouted down, collectively we will not arrive at the most accurate understanding of a problem.

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🤔 “SO, IF THESE ARE THE PROBLEMS, WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS???” 🤔

𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒:

📌 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝, 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝.

– Assume your kids are more capable this month than they were last month.

– Let your kids take more small risks.

– Encourage your child to walk or ride bicycles to and from school at the earliest ages possible.

– Send your children to an overnight summer camp in the woods for a few weeks – without devices.

– Encourage your children to engage in A LOT of “productive disagreement”.

📌 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐌𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐎𝐰𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 𝐔𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐝.

– Teach children the basics of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy).

– Teach children mindfulness.

📌 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐂𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠.

– Give people the benefit of the doubt.

– Practice the virtue of “intellectual humility”. Intellectual humility is the recognition that our reasoning is so flawed, so prone to bias, that we can rarely be certain that we are right.

– Look very carefully at how your school handles identity politics.

📌 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐬.

– Give more recess with less supervision.

– Discourage the use of the word “safe” or “safety” for anything other than physical safety.

– Have a “no devices” policy.

– Cultivate the intellectual virtues (e.g. curiosity, open-mindedness, intellectual humility)

– Teach debate and offer debate club.

– Assign reading and coursework that promote reasoned discussion.

📌 𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞.

– Place clear limits on device time.

– Protect your child’s sleep.

📌 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐦: 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞.

– Take a “gap year”.

– Encourage volunteer work.

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𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐒:

📌 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐲.

– Endorse the Chicago Statement (https://bit.ly/3e7Ohu0).

– Establish a practice of not responding to public outrage.

– Do not allow the “heckler’s veto”.

📌 𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐌𝐢𝐱 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.

– Admit more students who are older and can show evidence of their ability to live independently.

– Admit more students who have attended schools that teach the “intellectual virtues”.

– Include viewpoint diversity in diversity polices.

📌 𝐎𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

– Explicitly reject the Untruth of Fragility: What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker.

– Explicitly reject the Untruth of Emotional Reason: Always trust your feelings.

– Explicitly reject the Untruth of Us Versus Them: Life is a battle between good people and evil people.

📌 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐰 𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 – “𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰 𝐚 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞, 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.”

– Foster school spirit.

– Protect physical safety.

– Host civil, cross-partisan events for students.

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While reading all this can be overwhelming and sound like an uphill battle, Haidt and Lukianoff do conclude the book with hope. There are countertrends currently happening! 😃

👍 Recent studies are showing the ineffectiveness of trigger warnings. They also show that trigger warnings may even worsen a person’s feelings of anxiety (https://bit.ly/2YxhzMk).

👍 There are increasing discussions over the negative effects technology is having on kids, especially social media. Organizations like the Center for Humane Technology are aiming to reform the tech industry so products are healthier and less addictive.

👍 More states are passing laws to allow “free-range parenting” so a parent cannot be arrested for allowing their child to play without supervision.

👍 More writers like Timur Kuran, Amy Chua, and Jonathan Rauch are calling for a rethinking on identity politics and how both the far-Left and far-Right are feeding off them.

Even the Dalai Lama tweeted his own statement:

“𝐈’𝐦 𝐓𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐧, 𝐈’𝐦 𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈’𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐢 𝐋𝐚𝐦𝐚, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞.”

👍 More universities are starting to emphasize truth as their 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘴 and adopting the Chicago Statement on Principles of Free Expression (https://bit.ly/3e7Ohu0)

👍 Author Jonathan Haidt himself has created Heterodox Academy, which includes thousands of professors, administrators, and students who are dedicated to promoting open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement in higher education.

Since the book’s publication, Haidt has continued to speak at various universities about these issues, and “Coddling” has won numerous awards for its ideas. Lukianoff is the President at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), addressing student rights violations on college campuses (freedom of speech, due process, religious liberty, etc). 🏆

Of course, my summary doesn’t do the book justice. If any of this peaks your interest, I’d recommend picking up a copy of the book. It’s only 5 dollars on Amazon Kindle! 😲

𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐃𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊? 𝐈’𝐃 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒! ❤️

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𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐒:

📄 The Coddling of the American Mind (Article): https://bit.ly/3huxlQr

📄 Readers Respond to Coddling (Article): https://bit.ly/3fpfsRl

📖 The Coddling of the American Mind (Book): https://amzn.to/2zvV0yT

📖 The Rise of Victimhood Culture (Book): https://amzn.to/37BH7M5

📄 What is Concept Creep? (Article): https://bit.ly/2YQRqZ5

📄 The Free Speech Crisis on Campus is Worse Than People Think (Article): https://bit.ly/37xX7ii

📄 Free Speech For Me, But Not For Thee (Article): https://bit.ly/2Y46S4O

🖥️ Disinvitation Attempts of College Speakers (Database): https://bit.ly/2UGYJAY

📄 Chicago Statement on Principles of Free Expression (PDF): https://bit.ly/3e7Ohu0

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𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐄𝐂𝐇 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐒:

📼 Jonathan Haidt Speech About “Coddling” at UCCS (Video, 2019): https://bit.ly/2AAhm2Q

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𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎𝐒:

📼 Yale University – Halloween Email Protest (Video, 2015): https://bit.ly/2zBgrPg

📼 McMaster University – Jordan Peterson Protest (Video, 2017): https://bit.ly/2UFfNHG

📼 Villanova University – Charles Murray Protest (Video, 2017): https://bit.ly/2N20epq

📼 Evergreen State College – Day of Absence Protests (Video, 2017): https://bit.ly/2XZswqE

📼 UC Berkeley – Milo Yiannopoulos Riot (Video, 2017): https://bit.ly/3hsQHWl

📼 UC Berkeley – Ben Shapiro Protest (Video, 2017): https://bit.ly/2B6M0Rk

📼 Oberlin College – Gibson’s Bakery Protest (Video, 2019): https://bit.ly/2UIYnd4

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𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗖𝗘𝗦:

📄 Coddling Book Update 1 – Introduction (Article, 2020): https://bit.ly/37wLKqI

📄 Coddling Book Update 2 – Trigger Warnings, Social Media Use (Article, 2020): https://bit.ly/3d2BUyj

📄 Association for Psychological Science – Trigger Warnings Fail to Help and May Even Harm (Article 2020): https://bit.ly/2YxhzMk