The bookcase

One of the books Shaun rated five out of five.

The Anxious Generation

Jonathan Haidt

  • 5/5
  • Finished 2024
  • Psychology
  1. 2010-2015, teen social lives moved onto smartphones, and this corresponded to a tidal wave of mental illness
  2. Kids brain grow to 90% of full size by 5yrs old, but then take a long time to configure. They need
    1. free play - for social skills + physical skills. replaced by phone-play instead. Kids learn to connect, synchronise, attunement, bonding, whilst social media is asynchronous.
    2. learning
      1. conformist bias - copy whatever seems to be most common
      2. prestige bias - copy whoever seems to be most accomplished + presigious.

      Social media hijack these and draw eyes from local culture to ‘influencers’.

    3. social learning is most sensitive at 9-15yrs, when most get phones
  3. Brain has 2 modes
    1. discover mode , finding opportunities
    2. defend mode, defending threats

    Parents embraced safety due to media/news, so kids grew up anxious.

  4. Safetyism is an experience blocker - so are smartphones, which push out/reduce other non-phone based experiences.
  5. 4 foundational harms:
    1. social deprivation - time with friends is plunging
    2. sleep deprivation - quality is going down
    3. attention fragmentation - notifications = interruption
    4. addiction - hook cycle.
  6. Reducing self-focus + selfishness improves wellbeing.
    1. shared sacredness - we have 2 levels, the profane (day to day), and the sacred (where the self recedes + collective)
    2. embodiment - physical action together, team sports.
    3. stillness, silence, focus - decreases activation in brain areas related to fear + negative emotionality. meditation.