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The Coddling Of The American Mind Summary

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A Look Inside: “The Coddling of the American Mind” In the September 2015 issue of The Atlantic, the article, “The Coddling of the American Mind” co-written by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathon Haidt, was published. In this article, Lukianoff and Haidt make the argument that students of American colleges have become increasingly sensitive towards speech that could be deemed “offensive” or “triggering. And in an effort to appease students as well as avoid any possibility of a lawsuit being brought against them, colleges have become more willing to accommodate classes, by removing this type of speech from the curriculum. This has caused college students to become “coddled” or rather, students have become so sheltered against anything that could be …show more content…

The cases mentioned in the article, such as a Harvard professor being warned against using the word “violate”, can be easily found through other sources and- with a simple search- can be proven to be within proper context. Starting the article this way, Lukianoff and Haidt not only create a sense of credibility for themselves, but also give the readers a clear view of their stance on the …show more content…

This idea goes back at least as far as Socrates.” In the article Lukianoff and Haidt mention the Socratic Method- a method in which a person ask a series of questions leading into even more questions that (hopefully) eventually lead to an ultimate truth. This method forces a person out of their comfort zone and causes them to see an idea, or topic from multiple viewpoints. Lukianoff and Haidt (subtlety) reinforce this idea when they mention cognitive behavioral therapy. They define cognitive behavior therapy as “minimizing distorted thinking as to see the world more accurately. In other words, just like with the Socratic Method, cognitive behavior therapy has a person question their reality in search of a single truth. And just like with depression (one of the many mental illnesses cognitive behavioral therapy has been known to fix), the best way a person can overcome this mentality of “vindictive protectiveness” is by being exposed to multiple viewpoints that take them out of their comfort zone. This is a very important set up because it creates a firm understanding of the solution that Lukianoff and Haidt decided would be best for the problem that college students face today. They believe that it is not the fault of teachers’ or school administrations that have caused the mentality of students to have changed so rapidly, rather it is the faults of the legal system. They feel that the law should take into

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In Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt’s article, The Coddling of the American Mind, both authors are ASSERTING that the general public uses the use of what they call trigger warnings entirely too much. Lukianoff and Haidt BELIEVE that the extended use of trigger warnings is leading to a degraded and fragile state of mind. As a social psychologist, Jonathan Haidt has made several observations concerning the overall elevated concern for the emotional well being created by the public and for the public. Co-author Greg Lukianoff also has some background credibility as CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. Together, both Lukianoff and Haidt have formed an article that poses the question of whether trigger warnings are causing

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Author and First Amendment Lawyer Greg Lukianoff, in his book, Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship The End of American Debate, explores deeply into some of the most compelling college and university controversies in which freedom of speech, a right every person in the United States has, is taken away. The author mentions the way students, through debate, become less aware on what their rights are in terms of defending themselves from harsh administrative rule. Author Lukianoff explicitly states his point that what is currently happening to students in modern educational institutions is affecting and will affect them badly later down the road. The author made several arguments that completely made me agree with him.

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Johnathan Haidt and Gregg Lukianoff are considered to be some of the most important stylists in modern American writing. Their work is defined by a disciplined approach that gives their writing a dramatic feel. In their article, The Coddling of The American Mind”, authors Gregg Lukianoff and Johnathan Haidt claim that protecting children from offences will hinder them to the point where they are not able to handle any sort of discussions that may contain “trigger words”. As generations change, technology also changes with the times.

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Though there are some exceptions, the young generation at large today has been brainwashed by politically correct culture. That culture shuns complex thought, and makes any dissent from the PC mainstream punishable by shunning, yelling, and attempts to silence. It runs rampant on college campuses, and Hofstra is no exception. Trigger warnings are unfortunately a major aspect of this culture, and there is little remedy other than to save the minds of those we can still sway. As best summarized by the American Association of University Professors, “The presumption that students need to be protected rather than challenged in a classroom is at once infantilizing and anti-intellectual”

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In her article, she refers to college as a place to broaden knowledge, “It is, hopefully, a space where the student is challenged and sometimes frustrated and sometimes deeply upset, a place where the student's world expands and pushes them to reach the outer edges – not a place that contracts to meet the student exactly where they are” (Filipovic). From this previous statement, we can conclude that the unexpected in college challenges a student to push their knowledge; however, we should not adapt the learning process to meet students’ needs. A trigger warning serves as protection against a wide range of controversial categories. It is true multiple things could trigger an emotional response, even things as little as skulls, blood, or pregnancy. The discretion on whether a topic can send a student into emotional turmoil is unpredictable.

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