Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Do smartphones really cause mental illness among adolescents? Ten problems with Jonathan Haidt’s book

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

This is a textbook case of applying good critical thinking technique to show the fhe flaws in a causal study. The target in question is Jonathan Haidt's The Anxious Generation which tells us "how the great rewiring of childhood Is causing an epidemic of mental illness." Given the recent wave of mobile phone bans in classrooms, a sober rethink is sorely needed. According to the authors, Haidt cherry-picks research, infers cause from correlation, dismisses alternative explanations, generalized above the data, and more. It's as though Haidt's book was blended with a critical thinking textbook as a case study.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Dec 13, 2024 12:13 a.m.

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