Abigail Shrier: Why the Kids Aren’t Alright

So I think we got here through a lot of what I call bad therapy. Bad therapy is any therapy that introduces new symptoms or makes existing symptoms worse. And by that I mean we're teaching them over and over, your feelings are the most important thing. That's what we're broadcasting when we constantly ask them how they're feeling. When we constantly ask them if they're happy, we're fretting over their happiness. So we've made happiness a goal. Making happiness your goal is a way to make you unhappy. We're teaching kids they can never ignore any distress, they've never ignore any pain, and so they're not able to do it. Welcome to the Knowledge Project, a bi-weekly podcast exploring the powerful ideas, practical methods, and mental models of others. In a world where knowledge is power, this podcast is your toolkit for mastering the best of what other people have already figured out.

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