Members of iGen, according to the psychologist Jean Twenge, who coined the term, are “obsessed with safety,” which they define to include expansive notions of “emotional safety.” They began arriving on college campuses in 2013. The book, which expands on a widely circulated 2015 article in The Atlantic, identifies what the authors refer to as “the three Great Untruths” of the current moment: “what doesn’t kill you makes you weaker” “always trust your feelings” “life is a battle between good people and evil people.” It’s a moment profoundly reshaped in the sanitized image of the hyper-connected and -protected “iGen” generation (short for “internet generation”), which directly succeeds the millennials.
“The Coddling of the American Mind,” by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, proceeds from many of the same premises and touchstones as “Splintering,” but makes a much more disturbing and comprehensive analysis of recent campus trends. Let em think they’re good enough Christians to notice.” Carlson-Wee apologized, too, acknowledging on Twitter that the criticism had been “eye-opening.” The first reply to this tweet of contrition was a seemingly serious further rebuke: The phrase “eye-opening” was dismissive of the visually impaired. A few weeks later, The Nation appended a lengthy editor’s note - longer than the work itself - to the original post, stating that the poem “contains disparaging and ableist language that has given offense and caused harm to members of several communities.” One particularly offending line read: “If you’re crippled don’t flaunt it. People passing fast.” Corny, perhaps, but it’s hard not to see this as an exercise, however forced or clumsy, in empathy. “If you a girl, say you’re pregnant - nobody gonna lower themselves to listen for the kick. “If you got hiv, say aids,” Carlson-Wee wrote. It’s a brief verse riffing on the various performances many homeless people must undertake in order to render themselves visible to passers-by. $28.Įarlier this summer, a white poet named Anders Carlson-Wee published “How-To,” in The Nation.
THE CODDLING OF THE AMERICAN MIND How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure By Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt 338 pp. THE SPLINTERING OF THE AMERICAN MIND Identity Politics, Inequality, and Community on Today’s College Campuses By William Egginton 263 pp.
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