“Uniquely Stupid:” Dissecting the Past Decade of American Life | Amanpour and Company

Einstein said the difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.

"when critics go silent, groups get stupid" This is the 101 of our world today in one sentence.

Gave my 5th grader a flip phone. Lasted about a year before she was burning with shame for having it. Her and mom put the full-court press on me. Got her an iPhone. Six months later, she's now in therapy for anxiety and depression. The social pressure to have them is too great. Parents who managed to keep kids free of devices even just 5 years ago have no idea how incredibly more desirable and addictive they have become. No user stands a chance against algorithms.

I'm 63 and during the 2016 presidential election, I kept asking myself what the hell happened to our country? The outrage was ridiculous. I started searching the internet for answers and the only one who was able to explain it, without saying it's the other side's fault, was John Haidt. He's brilliant.

Social media has stunted the maturity level in politics to such an extent it will be the end of the west. It’s not a kid problem. It’s an adult problem.

It really is a shame that this man's message will only be heard by a small percentage of the population.

Negativity breeds negativity, as positivity breeds posivity. This is an excellent view on the destruction of our society via social media. Thank you both!

When in doubt, I generally trust the guy who says “it’s complicated” and provides practical solutions instead of complaints over anyone who says “this is right period” or “that is wrong period” without explanation. I trust people who can calmly address objections (though as a scientist, I still check his sources). Thank you Dr. Haidt for the article and the uplifting coda.

"if you think how stupid the average person is you then realize that 50% are more stupid than that" George Carlin

I have been a public school teacher for the last 28 years. It’s hard to explain to people how poorly todays students are doing in many aspects of their lives compared to students about 8 years ago. As more and more teachers that taught b4 social media leave the profession, this perspective will be lost. Honestly it might be…. Hey parents how about getting your kids a flip phone in case an “emergency” instead of the ironically named smartphone. I promise you it’s not making your kid smart 😐

Recently I realized how rare it is to hear genuine, balanced commentary on anything online any more, and the pockets where you can find it are gems. All the unique and insightful blogs I used to read are now gone. Google search results are diminishing. Reasonable people are being scared away from or simply just exhausted by the internet. It's such a dramatic pendulum swing away from where things were in 2006 or so. Hopefully the ship will right before we all topple over the side.

Jonathan Haidt is so good at bridging the divide. He deserves an even wider audience than he already has.

I left FB behind 5 yrs ago. Not only had it become divisive and toxic but it just sucked away my time. I'd pop on for half an hour and next thing I know several hours had gone by. I still comment a bit here on YT but no FB, no Twitter or Instagram. In all honesty, it's been a good thing. ✌

Jonathan Haidt is officially non-stupid and non-crazy. We need more like him.

I've been a journalist on the national level and a creative director and writer in advertising and i have a unique perspective on why the perception of "stupid" is not the key reason for the belief systems occurring in a majority of the population in the US. It has far more to do with laziness and the reliance on the erroneous thought that if you see something broadcast--anywhere, from TV to Youtube--it has been vetted and couldn't be a lie or else it wouldn't "be allowed". And these are the same people who willfully ignore the idea that Youtube innovated the entire idea of using stolen media without the legal ramifications any other business would be shut down for hosting (and they almost were until Google bought them).

I like Haidt, but I have always seen his argument as too narrow. I prefer the argument put forward by Hannah Arendt. Materialism is at the heart of the fall of society. She argued that both Smith and Marx missed the point, in that they were arguing over who should get what in society, not how society should function in relation to the community. She used the term “alienation” to describe people losing their connection to community and becoming isolated in their pursuit of personal gain, ie. materialism. I think social media has exacerbated that trend, which is where Haidt is somewhat correct. It bombards people with information comparing their material well-being to that of the people they know, while hiding all of the negative aspects that nobody sees. I see my classmates or coworkers on vacation somewhere beautiful. I think “my life is so shitty” because I can’t afford to go on vacation. I don’t see the sacrifices they put in to pay for that vacation, or the debt that they’ve accrued, or the fights that happen over that debt. This ultimately impacts any solution you’re going to find to the problem. If you’re just trying to solve the social media problem, you’re going to fail. It may help to draw the process out, but it will still end in failure. I believe we need to find ways to see value in community rather than personal achievements. I’d love to see a UBI with a requirement to do community service. I think getting people involved in their communities would go a long way to restoring that sense of oneness.

Excellent analysis, thank you. American democracy is operating outside safety limits. The extremes go viral and the moderates are silenced. Stupidity reigns. Thanks for working on it.

That’s the most thoughtful explanation of the effects of social media that I’ve ever heard, I think. We are in deep doodoo here in the US, politically and socially, but social media has made it infinitely worse.

My family is split, and I am the sole dissenter. As I am 85, this is a terrible thing to me. The disrespect is the worst of it.

The thing he said about identity verification was really good. That would be a tremendous help in getting rid of spammers, scammers, bots and fake accounts that try to make an unpopular opinion seem more popular than it actually is.