Jonathan Haidt
Coddling of the American Mind: How to Raise a Generation to Fail
London Real Interview
Wow. Simply wow. The interview was complex yet understandable and relatable. Ok, I’m
proud Gen X with the work hard play harder mantra that’s why I’m fascinated with this fragile
generation. To my understanding the older generation including mine made the “fragile
generation” happen. Way back when I was studying medicine, clerkship was the dreaded stage
of medical school. It was difficult but we are proud we survived. Now that we are already
consultants and reminisce the “good old days”, the whole experience was just beautiful. Way
back we shake in terror of charts thrown if we can’t answer during rounds, humiliation in public
meaning the whole class if you are unprepared during grand rounds, there’s extra duty hours
for failure to accomplish assigned tasks etc. are just some of the stories that we love to
remember. The whole process was character building. We are what we are today because of
what we have endured and survived as we were training. Now, I am already training officer
(TO) of my department and to my surprise there was an orientation with workshop for us TOs
on how to handle the millennials (later). How we should always commend their work, how we
should not offend them and be gentle in pointing out their mistakes etc. I was struggling with
this because how can I not castrate you for a dead or for killing a patient. Because this will
happen, you will make a mistakes but it doesn’t mean that you are a bad person or doctor. It
just means there are things beyond your control. There’s a reason why it’s called practice of
medicine, because we are always evolving, we are constantly adjusting on the way we manage
a case. Most importantly why medicine is both a science and an art. I know I am getting out of
track of my reaction paper but I just want to relay how I was dumbfounded by the rules and the
restrictions that we mentors/teachers/coaches are being shackled into and then at the same
time the society/administration wants us to produce competent and safe specialists.
Now going back to the interview, as said before the older generation is at fault here
together with the evolution of technology, finance, medicine practically everything. We can’t
blame this generation. We made this happen because we invented social media, we invented
technology that made simple tasks obsolete, our society is became an instant society as we can
see of fast foods multiplying, equipment that mixes and bakes at the same time, instant coffee,
efficient transportation etc. I mean we are all evolving and adapting to the changes as well and
the one suffering the most are younger generations. Because of these conveniences available
hard work is lost. Getting lost in a new city is unheard of nowadays because of metro apps and
google maps. I can still recall the adventures that I got myself into when I went to Recto for the
first time to buy books. It took me 2 hours just to find National Bookstore because I have no
app to make my work easier. Everything is double edge sword in one hand there is beauty in
getting lost because you ask around you get to really see the people and on the other hand if
you have google map you have done your job quicker and could have accomplished more yet
you missed out on the experience of getting lost in Recto. What I am driving at is to find
balance in this fast paced, constantly evolving world we now live in and being in tune with our
humanity and the environment. As for the Gen Z, we Gen X are their leaders nowadays. Let’s
stop expecting that they should act and work like us. I learned that this generation is way more
creative and technological savvy so I merely enhanced those abilities and incorporated my
approach in life. I was able to break this “during my time” mentality by being less judgmental
and more open minded. Mind you I don’t need psychedelics to improve myself but I wouldn’t
mind trying. Hey, the greatest songs where created because of psychedelics, I think. I mean
have you heard of God Only Knows by The Beach Boys, Baba O’Reilly by The Who and basically
all The Beatles songs. Now that’s what I call music.
