The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Greg Lukianoff, Jonathan Haidt

The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure is a book co-written by Greg Lukianoff, President and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), and Jonathan Haidt, a New York University professor. This book is an investigation into the current state of college campuses and current challenges surrounding free expression and academic freedom. They explore the implications and challenges of the "coddling of the American mind" epidemic in detail, which they believe has led to a generation of students with a fragile mentality that is ill-equipped to thrive in the real world.

The coddling of the American mind is defined by the authors as the “application of magnified and sometimes distorted courtesies toward young people, thereby shielding them from emotionally threatening situations”. It involves shielding students from uncomfortable and challenging ideas to keep them from feeling traumatized. They present the idea of three key Great Untruths that are fueling this kind of behavior:

1. Life is dangerous and fragile.
2. You can always trust your feelings.
3. Always make sure to be a good and virtuous person.

The authors argue that this kind of thinking is actually a hindrance to maturity and healthy emotional development despite the intention to be helpful and kind to young people. This kind of thinking fails to equip them with the tools needed to navigate the messiness and conflicting perspectives of life.

The authors trace the origin of this "coddling" to three primary changes in the culture of the United States: first, the rise of parenting techniques focused on making children feel "safe and comfortable" instead of teaching them necessary life skills; second, the rise of social media, which often tends to amplify a victim mentality; and third, the emergence of certain neo-Marxist ideological trends on college campuses which encourage the proliferation of oppressive safe spaces and disincentivizes open dialogue.

The authors counter these trends in two primary ways. First, they present psychological evidence that suggests that too much safety and comfort can actually have a detrimental effect on mental health. They use examples from animal studies and research on monkeys to illustrate the psychological side effects of coddling. Second, they propose four practices which they believe should be implemented into the academic environment to facilitate healthy and productive dialogue. These are:

1. “Train” students in critical thinking and promoting civil discourse.
2. Encourage the use of diversity of opinion and viewpoint.
3. Replace rule-based approaches to moral and intellectual issues with values-based approaches.
4. Promote practices of self-reflection and personal accountability.

The authors' goal is to provide a different approach to helping college students become better prepared for life after college. They rebut the notion that coddling and creating a safe space for college students is beneficial and show why it can be damaging in the long run. By promoting an environment of critical thinking and open dialogue, the authors believe that college students can become better equipped—rather than worse—at handling real life situations.

Overall, The Coddling of the American Mind provides an interesting and important perspective on the current environment of academia and the issues which threaten freedom of speech and expression. The book is a must-read for anyone who is concerned about the direction that higher education is taking right now, and when combined with the authors’ solutions, provides a possible way forward.