#644: Jonathan Haidt — The Coddling of the American Mind, How to Become Intellectually Antifragile, and How to Lose Anger by Studying Morality

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Jonathan Haidt (@jonhaidt) is a social
psychologist at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Jonathan received his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in
1992. His research examines the intuitive foundations of morality
and how morality varies across cultural and political divisions.
He is the author of The Happiness Hypothesis and
the New York Times bestsellers The Righteous
Mind and The Coddling of the American Mind (with
Greg Lukianoff).


He has given four TED Talks, and in 2019 he was inducted
into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Since 2018
Jonathan has been studying the contributions of social media to
the decline of teen mental health and the rise of political
dysfunction. He is currently writing two books: Kids in
Space: Why Teen Mental Health Is Collapsingand Life after
Babel: Adapting to a World We Can No Longer Share.


Please enjoy!


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[06:51] Richard Shweder.


[08:59] Making sense of assertions in anthropology.


[13:50] Why I invited Jon on the show.


[15:05] Moral relativism.


[21:24] How an emergentist views human rights violations.


[23:58] A turning point: why Jon almost never gets angry anymore.


[26:35] Taking LSD for the first time.


[32:21] My own transformative experience was happening
simultaneously.


[34:15] Were my politics influenced or altered by this
experience?


[40:17] What being a Jewish atheist means to Jon.


[45:13] From feud to friendship with Sam Harris.


[50:19] Complex dynamical system.


[54:36] How safe spaces and character cancellation took over
colleges.


[1:00:50] Why did the University of Chicago initially resist this
trend?


[1:02:13] What makes businesses more resilient against this trend
than colleges?


[1:07:18] The University of Austin: a catalyst for academic
reform?


[1:11:16] The aim of Jon’s Heterodox Academy.


[1:15:31] Distilling John Stuart Mill — the patron saint of
viewpoint diversity.


[1:17:26] Aging out of anger and the disarming power of Daryl
Davis.


[1:20:37] How to get smarter, stronger, and more sociable.


[1:22:55] After Babbel.


[1:24:46] What the holy and hitched can impart about happiness
for the secular and single.


[1:29:20] What’s happening to Gen Z?


[1:32:17] Jon and his wife’s free-range parenting style for
fostering independence.


[1:37:30] Group sports vs. individualist sports.


[1:40:40] A tough coach or teacher tests limits and taps
potential.


[1:46:38] Developing intellectual antifragility.


[1:49:27] Jon’s billboard.


[1:52:00] Revisiting practical philosophies when times get tough.


[1:57:20] Parting thoughts.


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