Jonathan Haidt

What you're describing is the loss of any moral framework. And if you try to raise kids without a moral framework, it's not going to go well.

What you're describing is the loss of any moral framework. And if you try to raise kids without a moral framework, it's not going to go well.

And this, yeah, and while I want to stay away from politics in our talk in general, what you're bringing up is one of the divisions that I talked about in The Righteous Mind between left and right. And that is that, you know, in general, the right, you know, conservatism, conserve what we have, right? There's a wisdom to our ancestors. This is Edmund Burke.

And this, yeah, and while I want to stay away from politics in our talk in general, what you're bringing up is one of the divisions that I talked about in The Righteous Mind between left and right. And that is that, you know, in general, the right, you know, conservatism, conserve what we have, right? There's a wisdom to our ancestors. This is Edmund Burke.

And so the right tends to see they have what's called a constrained view of human nature. If kids don't have structure and order and punishment for bad deeds, they'll come out badly. Whereas the left tends to habitually question existing arrangements and pull things down if they seem unjust. And the left is much more afraid to make value judgments and to impose a moral order on kids.

And so the right tends to see they have what's called a constrained view of human nature. If kids don't have structure and order and punishment for bad deeds, they'll come out badly. Whereas the left tends to habitually question existing arrangements and pull things down if they seem unjust. And the left is much more afraid to make value judgments and to impose a moral order on kids.

That's why it's always the right that's concerned about the garbage being placed on TV because the right is very concerned about the moral diet coming in. Now, I think in the modern era, I think parents should be more like the conservatives in that respect. And here's why.

That's why it's always the right that's concerned about the garbage being placed on TV because the right is very concerned about the moral diet coming in. Now, I think in the modern era, I think parents should be more like the conservatives in that respect. And here's why.

We already talked about the way the neurons are growing, they're wiring up, and you learn to run, climb trees, do all sorts of things. But a big thing you're doing, especially in later childhood, is you're learning the moral order. And humans evolved within a moral order. And I'm a secular Jewish. I was always on the left. Now I'm nothing. I'm not on any team.

We already talked about the way the neurons are growing, they're wiring up, and you learn to run, climb trees, do all sorts of things. But a big thing you're doing, especially in later childhood, is you're learning the moral order. And humans evolved within a moral order. And I'm a secular Jewish. I was always on the left. Now I'm nothing. I'm not on any team.

But when I was writing that book, I was really sort of exploring ancient wisdom and discovering... Wow. Every other society, they had this rich moral framework. They have a conception of the gods. There are reasons why you have to do things. And when you raise kids within a moral order, they have a sense of their place in the world and a sense of meaning.

But when I was writing that book, I was really sort of exploring ancient wisdom and discovering... Wow. Every other society, they had this rich moral framework. They have a conception of the gods. There are reasons why you have to do things. And when you raise kids within a moral order, they have a sense of their place in the world and a sense of meaning.

And when you take all that out and you say, you know, all that matters is what feels good or all that matters is rights or all that matters is some measure of material success, basically what you have is what Emile Durkheim called anomie or normlessness. And there's a question on the Monitoring the Future study where since the 70s we've asked high school seniors, my life feels useless.

And when you take all that out and you say, you know, all that matters is what feels good or all that matters is rights or all that matters is some measure of material success, basically what you have is what Emile Durkheim called anomie or normlessness. And there's a question on the Monitoring the Future study where since the 70s we've asked high school seniors, my life feels useless.

Do you agree or disagree with that on a five-point scale? And until 2010, it's like around 9% say yes. And then all of a sudden, 2012, it shoots up, it doubles within five or 10 years.

Do you agree or disagree with that on a five-point scale? And until 2010, it's like around 9% say yes. And then all of a sudden, 2012, it shoots up, it doubles within five or 10 years.

And so I think part of this is if you're immersed in stories that have a moral order to them, which is what I was immersed in when I was a kid, all the stories had some sort of, you know, moral and, you know, even I Dream of Jeannie. I mean, you know, there was a moral framework was put in by the adults who made the show. But what you see on TikTok and Instagram, they're not really stories.

And so I think part of this is if you're immersed in stories that have a moral order to them, which is what I was immersed in when I was a kid, all the stories had some sort of, you know, moral and, you know, even I Dream of Jeannie. I mean, you know, there was a moral framework was put in by the adults who made the show. But what you see on TikTok and Instagram, they're not really stories.

They're really amoral or immoral. A lot of them are just horrible things. The boys are seeing lots of videos of people getting in accidents or violence. And so a long way to answer your question, kids need moral formation. They need a structure, a shared moral framework. Morality only works like language. You can't have your own language and you can't have your own morality.

They're really amoral or immoral. A lot of them are just horrible things. The boys are seeing lots of videos of people getting in accidents or violence. And so a long way to answer your question, kids need moral formation. They need a structure, a shared moral framework. Morality only works like language. You can't have your own language and you can't have your own morality.