The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness

by Jonathan Haidt

Stillness, Silence, and Focus Bodies aren’t always in motion during spiritual practices; some practices use stillness, although even being still is physically intense. Meditation traditions prescribe how to sit, breathe, and visualize the body. The Buddha followed the “eightfold noble path” to enlightenment. The eighth element, interacting with all the others, is samadhi, often translated as “meditative absorption.” Without training, the mind flits around like a jumping monkey. With our multiscreen, multitasking lives, the monkey jumps even more frantically, as with Johann Hari’s godson. One of the fundamental teachings of the Buddha is that we can train our minds. Meditation helps to calm the monkey mind. Over time, the nature of conscious experience changes, even when one is not meditating. Studies on Buddhist monks suggest that their intense meditation practices alter their brains in lasting ways, decreasing activation in brain areas related to fear and negative emotionality. That’s a sign that they have come to live in the openness of discover mode, rather than in the guardedness of defend mode.[10] This is why many religions have monasteries and monks. Those seeking spiritual growth are well served by separating themselves from the noise and complexity of human interactions, with their incessant words and profane concerns. When people practice silence in the company of equally silent companions, they promote quiet reflection and inner work, which confers mental health...