The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure

by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff

3 of 5 stars 1 rating • 0 reviews • 2 shelved
Book cover for The Coddling of the American Mind

Bookhype may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure.

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

The New York Times
bestseller
Financial Times, TLS, Evening Standard, New Statesman
books of the year

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.

  • ISBN10 0241308356
  • ISBN13 9780241308356
  • Publish Date 4 September 2018
  • Publish Status Out of Print
  • Out of Print 7 April 2021
  • Publish Country GB
  • Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
  • Imprint Allen Lane
  • Format Hardcover
  • Pages 352
  • Language English