Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has been explaining the human condition to us better than anyone else. He first did it with his book The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, which explored why people were so passionately divided over politics and religion, and argued that people are fundamentally religiously inclined creatures. Then, he did it again with
I teach middle school, and I have been preaching about the evils of smartphones in the hands of children for years. But Jonathan Haidt has added so much to the conversation. Sadly, he has shown, quite clearly, that by the time these 11-year olds arrive in my classroom, the damage has already been done. This newest generation cannot focus on a teacher's words for even 30 seconds. They have no curiosity about anything. They have been fed an algorithmically selected diet for two or three years before they arrive in school, and resent that the teacher expects them to focus on anything else. We need for pediatricians to warn parents against even minimal use of digital devices by preschoolers and we need to get them to play with other children, in person, rather than online. The development of our children's brains is being thwarted by these electronic babysitters.
In New Zealand, our new government (elected October 2023) just implemented a total ban on phones in school for all students of all schools across the country in February. (Start of our school year) There's been a small amount of pushback but largely this is welcomed by all and as a primary school (that's what we call elementary school) teacher I've already noticed better focus in class from students.
Sounds like a good book. But the underlying question always remains: how do we fix it (for a large portion of the population)? In about 60 years, no one in the West will remember life before the internet and smartphones (maybe a few very old codgers will be telling stories). In about 100, essentially every person on Earth will have had a smartphone in their hand by age 2. Hopefully the Amish will still be doing their thing, and the North Sentinelese will still be around. So *everyone's* brain will be wired by TikTok and *no one* will remember what life was like without it.
Excellent discussion. Should be required listening for all parents and educators. I'm a retired independent school head who did not allow phones during the school day. In retrospect, we should have used less technology as well.
Really enjoyed this episode and learned a few things, but I have a quibble with the topic right at the end - I recognize that there may be more in the book, but the suggestion that implementation of an enforceable age limit on social media is an 'easy and free' option is overwhelmingly incorrect. How does something like this get built into a platform? How do we prove that a 12 year old is a 12 year old if they don't have government-issued ID? Surely we don't want social media companies getting access to SSNs, but what's the alternative? Lobbying parents to get government-issued ID cards for their kids? Creating some centralized database of children's ages and addresses? These all sound like pretty terrible options that I think people would push back against. Plus, how would this work internationally? I don't think this is an unsolvable problem, and the onus is absolutely on the social media companies to find a way, but I strongly disagree that this is a problem that's easy and cheap to solve.
I teach middle school, and I have been preaching about the evils of smartphones in the hands of children for years. But Jonathan Haidt has added so much to the conversation. Sadly, he has shown, quite clearly, that by the time these 11-year olds arrive in my classroom, the damage has already been done. This newest generation cannot focus on a teacher's words for even 30 seconds. They have no curiosity about anything. They have been fed an algorithmically selected diet for two or three years before they arrive in school, and resent that the teacher expects them to focus on anything else. We need for pediatricians to warn parents against even minimal use of digital devices by preschoolers and we need to get them to play with other children, in person, rather than online. The development of our children's brains is being thwarted by these electronic babysitters.
In New Zealand, our new government (elected October 2023) just implemented a total ban on phones in school for all students of all schools across the country in February. (Start of our school year) There's been a small amount of pushback but largely this is welcomed by all and as a primary school (that's what we call elementary school) teacher I've already noticed better focus in class from students.
Sounds like a good book. But the underlying question always remains: how do we fix it (for a large portion of the population)? In about 60 years, no one in the West will remember life before the internet and smartphones (maybe a few very old codgers will be telling stories). In about 100, essentially every person on Earth will have had a smartphone in their hand by age 2. Hopefully the Amish will still be doing their thing, and the North Sentinelese will still be around. So *everyone's* brain will be wired by TikTok and *no one* will remember what life was like without it.
Excellent discussion. Should be required listening for all parents and educators. I'm a retired independent school head who did not allow phones during the school day. In retrospect, we should have used less technology as well.
Really enjoyed this episode and learned a few things, but I have a quibble with the topic right at the end - I recognize that there may be more in the book, but the suggestion that implementation of an enforceable age limit on social media is an 'easy and free' option is overwhelmingly incorrect. How does something like this get built into a platform? How do we prove that a 12 year old is a 12 year old if they don't have government-issued ID? Surely we don't want social media companies getting access to SSNs, but what's the alternative? Lobbying parents to get government-issued ID cards for their kids? Creating some centralized database of children's ages and addresses? These all sound like pretty terrible options that I think people would push back against. Plus, how would this work internationally? I don't think this is an unsolvable problem, and the onus is absolutely on the social media companies to find a way, but I strongly disagree that this is a problem that's easy and cheap to solve.
I’ve followed Haidt for years and respect his insights.
However, I cringed when I watched his “bloodbath” exchange with Joe Rogan. It is clear Haidt’s biases are clouding his ability to discern reality.
Begin at timestamp 1:31:00 for full context.
https://youtu.be/jOC-RyoBcbQ?si=wGC7f16_sUayGuiH