The coddling of the American mind – Part 2

I finished the book yesterday. The second half wasn’t as good as the first one. But I understand how hard it is to identify causality and solutions in a complex stochastic system. 

The solutions the authors proposed were as with everything in life: easier said than done. While I agree with many of their ideas, I don’t know how to apply them. One example is the idea of free child play and exposing children to dangerous yet manageable physical environments. I am actually sometimes worried when I see kids doing crazy things on public transit and their parents aren’t showing concern that they might fall, I can’t imagine myself being this calm while my kids are hammering nails and cutting wood with saws as the authors said they do with their kids. I agree with the principle I don’t know how to execute it.

I also don’t know why they were overselling Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). I need to read more about it.

Overall I still recommend reading it.

My first post about the book can be read here.