The Anxious Generation w/ Jonathan Haidt

Dr. Jonathan Haidt and I discuss how social media is messing up kids.

Keep your eye on whether there is a feedback loop between behavior and reinforcement.

You tap and then you get something. You tap and then you get something.

That’s the way you train a rat, that’s the way you train a dog, that’s the way you train a child.

I had a nuanced and rich discussion with my buddy Jonathan Haidt about his latest book “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of mental Illness.” Jonathan argues that the disappearance of a play-based childhood has been replaced by the great rewiring of childhood that came with the emergence of smart phones and social media around 2012. He argues that this had a big impact on the mental health of teens all around the developed world, most so for young girls.

In this episode we do a deep dive of the research surrounding his argument as well as the criticisms that have been leveled against his hypothesis. This was a stimulating conversation with a friend who I admire. I appreciate that he was so open to discussing criticisms and having such a nuanced discussion about such an important and pressing topic.

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