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America’s Top Export May Be Anxiety
Some of the most valuable evidence comes in the form of detailed time-use records from the US and UK, which show a marked increase in time spent alone among teens and young adults over the past decade, but little to no change for older groups. Most impor-tantly, this diary data also captures how people are feeling over the course of their day as th... See more
Modern life, then, has not crushed our minds and bodies, turned us into atomized machines suffering from toxic levels of emptiness and isolation, or set us drifting apart without human contact or emotion. How did this hysterical misconception arise? Partly it came out of the social critic’s standard formula for sowing panic: Here’s an anecdote, the
... See moreSteven Pinker • Enlightenment Now
it became clear that anxiety, depression, loneliness, and suicidal thoughts were major factors in their lives.
Collin Hansen • The Great Dechurching
In record numbers, young people are worried about their mental well-being: The mental health crisis has many root causes: the pandemic, student loan debt, gun violence, climate change, a recent reversal of social progress made over the last half-century. And, of course, the ever-growing presence of technology in our lives.
Rex Woodbury • 10 Characteristics That Define Gen Z (Part I)
The internet arrived for most of us in the late 1990s, into a society where the middle class was starting to crumble, and where financial insecurity was rising, and we were sleeping an hour less than people did in 1945. A more stressed society will be less able to resist distractions. It would always have been hard to resist the sophisticated human
... See moreJohann Hari • Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention
“There’s been research done with people in slums across the globe and with prostitutes, looking at their well-being and satisfaction with life. The data suggest that positive emotions have less to do with material resources than we might think; it’s really about your attitude and approach to your circumstances.” This flight into self-delusion is no
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