The Coddling of the American Mind

The Coddling of the American Mind

How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure

Summary

'Excellent, their advice is sound . . . liberal parents, in particular, should read it' Financial Times

The New York Times
bestseller

What doesn't kill you makes you weaker
Always trust your feelings
Life is a battle between good people and evil people

These three Great Untruths contradict basic psychological principles about well-being, as well as ancient wisdom from many cultures. And yet they have become increasingly woven into education, culminating in a stifling culture of "safetyism" that began on American college campuses and is spreading throughout academic institutions in the English-speaking world.

In this book, free speech campaigner Greg Lukianoff and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt investigate six trends that caused the spread of these untruths, from the decline of unsupervised play to the corporatization of universities and the rise of new ideas about identity and justice.

Lukianoff and Haidt argue that well-intended but misguided attempts to protect young people can hamper their development, with devastating consequences for them, for the educational system and for democracy itself.

Reviews

  • Excellent . . . their advice is sound . . . liberal parents, in particular, should read it
    Edward Luce, Financial Times

About the authors

Jonathan Haidt

Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist and the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University's Stern School of Business. He is the author of The Righteous Mind and co-author of The Coddling of the American Mind.
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Greg Lukianoff

Greg Lukianoff is a lawyer, First Amendment expert and President of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. He is the co-author of The Coddling of the American Mind and the author of Unlearning Liberty and Freedom From Speech.
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