Gen Z has been warped by social media and victimhood culture: Jonathan haidt

[Anonymous]

I liked his moral foundations theory, but also know that WSJ skews right in its option section. Either way, this is paywalled, https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-national-crisis-of-generation-z-jonathan-haidt-social-media-performance-anxiety-fragility-gap-childhood-11672401345 but you get the idea. Gen Z has been weakened by social media and endless victimhood culture and I think this is true. There are big ramifications for capitalism in time.

[Anonymous]

I think righting some wrongs of capitalism is a good thing. Of course the people who benefit from the old way of doing things fight the new way of doing things. Because they can't take advantage of poorer people if capitalism is turned on it's head.

None of this seems like a bad thing, or a new idea. Every generation complains that the "young ones today" are lazy and whiny. They said it about Gen X, they said it about millenials, now they say is about Gen Z. Tale as old as time.

[Anonymous]

So basically, Haidt’s cohort did a shitty job raising their kids but he wants to blame it on the children instead ofntakignnreaponsibilitybfienti. Classic boomer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So basically, Haidt’s cohort did a shitty job raising their kids but he wants to blame it on the children instead ofntakignnreaponsibilitybfienti. Classic boomer.

Gen z has a mess to clean up and they will rise to the task.

[Anonymous]

I think Jonathan Haidt's takes on social media are largely correct or at least they seem to explain the data he presents. I tend to think that claims about "victimhood culture" are overblown, especially by people who work in elite academic environments (where that might be the dominate culture, but ultimately those places are very small slice of the cultural pie).

That said, I think it's very hard to engage critically with a pay-walled editorial describing someone else's views. This is just going to devolve into people repeating things they already believe without reference to anything that's linked, which is, indeed, what I've done.

[Anonymous]

My kids and their cohort are fairly tough in many ways and also weak in other ways. They are perhaps too quick to call out injustices on behalf of others but don't take the victimhood role themselves. They may be wronged by others but they are no one's victim.

I think we talk about victimhood a lot. I don't know how much of it I've seen in practice. I can't see the data, though.

As for warped by social media? Yes but that's all of us.

[Anonymous]

Classic generation gap freak out. There is a huge gulf between today's adults and today's youth in a way not seen since the 1960s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Classic generation gap freak out. There is a huge gulf between today's adults and today's youth in a way not seen since the 1960s.

Are you sure? Gen z is more democratic leaning than the young voters of the 60s..... particularly the young women who came out and voted and voted heavily democratic,. With very good reason was it not something on the order of 70 percent? These are not your 60s generation.

[Anonymous]

Same stuff they said about TV when we were growing up. Yawn on the mansplaining.

[Anonymous]

I agree with haidt. Young please seem to wear their mental health on their sleeves today and they don’t or can’t accept jagged discourse freely. I also see a lot of examples of skillful harnessing of the power of victimhood. Essentially so whatever it takes for ends to justify means. Whether it’s trying to essentially make obese or overweight people a protected class and endlessly ”calling out” fat shaming as an epidemic plague. When in actually there is no such thing as “healthy” at any size. Social media and victim culture are truly eroding the ability for young folks to respond to adversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with haidt. Young please seem to wear their mental health on their sleeves today and they don’t or can’t accept jagged discourse freely. I also see a lot of examples of skillful harnessing of the power of victimhood. Essentially so whatever it takes for ends to justify means. Whether it’s trying to essentially make obese or overweight people a protected class and endlessly ”calling out” fat shaming as an epidemic plague. When in actually there is no such thing as “healthy” at any size. Social media and victim culture are truly eroding the ability for young folks to respond to adversity.

These young women got their rights stripped away and they showed up and fought back. Not victims. I think they intend to fight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I liked his moral foundations theory, but also know that WSJ skews right in its option section. Either way, this is paywalled, https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-national-crisis-of-generation-z-jonathan-haidt-social-media-performance-anxiety-fragility-gap-childhood-11672401345 but you get the idea. Gen Z has been weakened by social media and endless victimhood culture and I think this is true. There are big ramifications for capitalism in time.

This relates to my other thread about young adults today expecting an apology from their parents and their parents wanting a thank you.

I would say that complaining about a coddled generation is a bit of a trope. I would also say that conservatives tend to be world champions in terms of embracing a victimhood culture/mindset.

[Anonymous]

Wah! Wah!
Right wing grievance against GenZ continues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I liked his moral foundations theory, but also know that WSJ skews right in its option section. Either way, this is paywalled, https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-national-crisis-of-generation-z-jonathan-haidt-social-media-performance-anxiety-fragility-gap-childhood-11672401345 but you get the idea. Gen Z has been weakened by social media and endless victimhood culture and I think this is true. There are big ramifications for capitalism in time.

This relates to my other thread about young adults today expecting an apology from their parents and their parents wanting a thank you.

I would say that complaining about a coddled generation is a bit of a trope. I would also say that conservatives tend to be world champions in terms of embracing a victimhood culture/mindset.

I'm not sure that he is entirely blaming Gen Z. His point, which is a good one, is that this generation lacks a foundation of experiences from which they could develop resilience, some of which is due to a culture that prioritizes safety over what in the past were normal childhood experiences. He blames much of this on phones, but the pandemic certainly didn't help. His points about victimhood culture have some merit too. As we move to a more understanding and inclusive society, there has to be room to make mistakes and to be forgiven.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I liked his moral foundations theory, but also know that WSJ skews right in its option section. Either way, this is paywalled, https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-national-crisis-of-generation-z-jonathan-haidt-social-media-performance-anxiety-fragility-gap-childhood-11672401345 but you get the idea. Gen Z has been weakened by social media and endless victimhood culture and I think this is true. There are big ramifications for capitalism in time.

Is there a free version of this story somewhere ?

Can you copy and paste the main points please ?

It sounds on point.