The anxious generation, by Jonathan Haidt, is a book on the current mental health crisis that affects kids and teenagers.

I found this book in various blog posts and comments, including the author’s blog afterbabel.

The main focus of the book is on the effects of addictive algorithms available in the phone all the time, in particular for teenage children.

There is abundant detail on how it affects teenagers, brain development, and the different effects and preferences of boy and girls.

Its research also covers some of the effects of the technology itself, with some overlap Stolen Focus or Stand Out of Our light.

The secondary focus is on free play; society, schools and parents have changed towards restrictive play and that’s taking a toll on the children.

While the book is detailed and references many relevant studies, it lacks a compelling ark or device to make it engaging. The main 2 devices I identified:

  • A first and last chapter reference to kids being raised on Mars and the hypothetical toll on their bodies.
  • “The great rewiring”: the type of childhood driven by algorithm mediated relationships.

On its own, a dry exposition of facts can still be engaging. However, a bigger flaw in my opinion is the missing studies on causality for some of the arguments.

There is no strong evidence to make some of the assertions that the phones cause the mental illness wave. Some of the assertions around the smartphone+camera+social media causing spikes in mental health issues, I was constantly wondering if there is a missing factor that can also explain it.

In particular, I thought that the 2007 financial crisis had a big effect on the feeling of hopelessness for many young people including myself. It had an effect on the feeling of how much could I prosper and the amount of common space available.

The combination of these two flaws took some of the enjoyment away.

It is a shame because the case for improving communities and delaying the age to use a smartphone is clearly there. The distinction between the two types of relationships is powerful. The connection with free play and agency is a great idea. I share most of the beliefs stated in the book.

I think the book could have benefited from either:

  • A more direct account of the teenage struggle, even if fictional.
  • Presence of the author struggle if interesting.
  • More causal research that might not exist yet (it proposes some experiments)
  • More follow up studies on gen z adults that prove that they are permanently scarred.
  • Dig into the incentives of brain manipulation like “The age of surveillance capitalism”

I would recommend this book for its research. If you need to find a study or story around why are phones detrimental to kids, it delivers. But only recommend as a read for either parents that need guidance or people with free play sensitivities.

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