34% Of Young Adults Report Feeling Loneliness - Jordan Peterson
Summary
TLDRThe Harvard Graduate School of Education's report reveals alarming rates of anxiety among young adults aged 18 to 25, with 34% feeling lonely and 58% lacking purpose. The discussion explores the impact of societal and therapeutic influences on mental health, emphasizing the importance of long-term relationships and social integration for a stable identity and purpose. It critiques the modern focus on self-esteem and short-term gratification, suggesting that a broader, socially inclusive aim is key to mental well-being.
Takeaways
- 📊 A recent report from The Harvard Graduate School of Education reveals high levels of anxiety among young adults, with 34% feeling lonely, 51% affected by achievement pressure, and 58% lacking purpose.
- 🔍 There is a significant gap in understanding the mental health of young adults compared to teens, despite young adults reporting double the rates of anxiety and depression.
- 👨🏫 The speaker suggests that the modern therapeutic approach may contribute to mental health issues by promoting a subjective view of mental health and identity, leading to self-centeredness.
- 🧐 The idea that one can define their own identity is criticized as unrealistic, as identity is a social construct that requires mutual recognition from others.
- 💡 A long-term, stable relationship is posited as a prerequisite for mental health, suggesting that commitment to others and community can provide a sense of purpose and reduce anxiety.
- 🤔 The speaker questions the modern focus on self-esteem and self-identity, arguing that it may lead to increased anxiety and a lack of direction in life.
- 🎯 The importance of setting aims and goals that are socially inclusive and long-term is highlighted as a means to achieve mental health and a meaningful life.
- 🎙️ The speaker's experience with podcasting is used as an example of how engaging in activities that contribute to a broader audience can provide a sense of purpose.
- 🔗 Accountability and maintaining harmony between one's words and actions are presented as important aspects of social integration and personal development.
- 🚫 The reduction of sexuality to mere sexual gratification is critiqued, with a call to embed it within the context of a committed relationship for a healthier conceptualization.
- 🌐 The script contrasts two reproductive strategies in the animal kingdom to emphasize the high-investment strategy of humans, which involves long-term relationships and commitment.
Q & A
What percentage of young adults aged 18 to 25 reported feelings of loneliness according to the Harvard Graduate School of Education report?
-According to the report, 34% of young adults aged 18 to 25 reported feelings of loneliness.
How did achievement pressure impact the mental health of young adults as mentioned in the transcript?
-Achievement pressure negatively impacted the mental health of 51% of the young adults surveyed.
What percentage of young adults felt a lack of meaning or purpose in their lives?
-58% of the young adults reported lacking meaning or purpose in their lives in the last month.
What is the speaker's view on the role of therapists in shaping mental health perceptions?
-The speaker suggests that therapists, who are described as 'secular, liberal Protestants,' tend to conceptualize mental health as subjective, which may contribute to the idea that one can simply define their own identity.
Why does the speaker believe that young adults might be feeling lost?
-The speaker believes young adults might be feeling lost because they are thinking about mental health as something dependent solely on themselves, rather than considering the importance of long-term, stable relationships and social integration.
What does the speaker suggest as a precondition for successful adaptation as a young adult?
-The speaker suggests that being married or establishing a long-term, stable relationship is a precondition for successful adaptation as a young adult.
How does the speaker relate the practice of short-term sexual gratification to the development of negative personality traits?
-The speaker argues that practicing short-term sexual gratification can lead to the development of psychopathic, narcissistic, and sadistic traits, as it involves using oneself or others for short-term pleasure.
What does the speaker say about the consequences of indulging in short-term sexual gratification, as shared by Russell Brand?
-The speaker mentions that Russell Brand experienced despair, anxiety, and hopelessness as consequences of indulging in short-term sexual gratification.
What is the speaker's view on the relationship between self-esteem and the pursuit of short-term desires?
-The speaker suggests that focusing on self-esteem and the pursuit of short-term desires can lead to a downward spiral of anxiety, loneliness, and aimlessness.
What does the speaker suggest about the type of people who engage in short-term sexual relationships?
-The speaker suggests that those who engage in short-term sexual relationships are likely to be damaged individuals, and that such behavior can lead to further damage.
How does the speaker connect the idea of identity to mental health?
-The speaker connects the idea of identity to mental health by stating that playing identity games in the modern world, such as defining oneself by sexuality, can lead to anxiety and hopelessness.
Outlines
📊 Mental Health Crisis Among Young Adults
This paragraph discusses a report from The Harvard Graduate School of Education that highlights the mental health struggles of young adults aged 18 to 25. Key findings include high rates of loneliness (34%), achievement pressure negatively affecting mental health (51%), and a lack of meaning or purpose (58%). The speaker notes that young adults experience twice the anxiety and depression rates compared to teens, and attributes part of this crisis to the therapeutic world's emphasis on subjective mental health and self-identity. The paragraph also touches on the importance of long-term, stable relationships for mental health and criticizes the modern tendency to define oneself by immediate desires and short-term gratification.
🎙️ The Role of Podcasting and Social Responsibility
The speaker explores the personal satisfaction derived from podcasting, emphasizing that it is not about self-focus but about establishing a responsible relationship with an audience. Accountability and consistency in one's actions and words are highlighted as crucial for maintaining harmony within a social hierarchy. The paragraph delves into the concept of setting aims and goals that are beneficial in the long term and across various social contexts. It critiques the modern identity games that lead to anxiety and hopelessness, particularly the reduction of self to one's sexuality, and questions the long-term consequences of such a narrow self-definition.
🛌 The Consequences of Short-Term Sexual Gratification
This paragraph examines the impact of indulging in short-term sexual relationships and the personality traits associated with such behaviors, like psychopathy, narcissism, and sadism. The speaker argues that consistent practice of short-term gratification can lead individuals down a path of despair, anxiety, and hopelessness. The discussion includes an anecdote about Russell Brand's experiences with fame and the pitfalls of unlimited access to short-term sexual encounters. The paragraph concludes by warning against the desolation that comes from a life focused on immediate, low-level desires and the importance of broader life goals and social connections.
📘 Promoting Element: A Hydration and Health Product
The final paragraph is a promotional message for Element, a hydration product that the speaker has been using for over three years. It describes the benefits of Element, including its electrolyte ratio and its impact on the speaker's daily routine, appetite, and brain health. The promotion introduces a new flavor, chocolate caramel, and offers a no-questions-asked refund policy. The paragraph invites listeners to try Element with a special offer for a free sample pack of all eight flavors with the first box purchase.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Anxiety
💡Mental Health
💡Loneliness
💡Achievement Pressure
💡Meaning or Purpose
💡Identity
💡Therapeutic World
💡Social Hierarchy
💡Long-term Stable Relationship
💡Self-esteem Movement
💡Sexuality
Highlights
A recent report by The Harvard Graduate School of Education reveals the drivers of anxiety in young adults aged 18 to 25.
34% of young adults reported feelings of loneliness, indicating a significant issue with social isolation.
51% claimed achievement pressure negatively affected their mental health, highlighting societal expectations' impact.
58% of respondents reported a lack of meaning or purpose in their lives, underscoring a widespread existential crisis.
50% stated their mental health suffered from uncertainty about life direction, emphasizing the challenges of young adulthood.
Young adults report twice the rates of anxiety and depression compared to teens, revealing a critical transition period.
The therapeutic world's approach to mental health as subjective may contribute to the issue, suggesting a flawed conceptualization.
Therapists' tendency to allow individuals to define their own identity may lead to unrealistic expectations and mental distress.
Long-term, stable relationships are suggested as a precondition for successful adaptation in young adulthood, emphasizing commitment.
Commitment to others, family, and community provides identity, purpose, and protection from anxiety, offering a multi-level approach.
The pursuit of validation may actually be an investigation into one's social hierarchy, suggesting a deeper need for social integration.
Self-consciousness and negative emotion are linked, with self-reflective descriptors often leading to distress.
Engaging in activities that benefit a broader audience can provide satisfaction and a sense of utility, beyond self-focus.
Aimlessness and impulsiveness are equated with a lack of commitment and a focus on immediate desires, leading to immaturity.
The identity game of defining oneself by sexuality is critiqued, suggesting a reductionist and potentially harmful perspective.
A high investment strategy in sexual reproduction for humans implies that sexuality is embedded in relationships, not isolated acts.
Short-term sexual gratification is associated with negative personality traits like psychopathy and narcissism, indicating harm.
The self-esteem movement's focus on 'me' may inadvertently lead to a focus on immediate desires, causing desperation and unhappiness.
The promotion of element as a daily supplement for hydration, appetite regulation, and brain health, with a risk-free trial offer.
Transcripts
I wanted to bring this to you so
interesting so recent report was
released by The Harvard Graduate School
of Education detailing the drivers of
anxiety for young adults aged 18 to 25
34% reported feelings of loneliness 51%
said achievement pressure negatively
impacted their mental health 58%
reported lacking meaning or purpose in
their lives in the last month 50%
reported their mental health was
negatively influenced by not knowing
what to do with my life there has been
much examination of the well-being of
teens aged 14 to 17 not much has been
known about those occupying the critical
young adult years and yet young adults
report roughly twice the rates of
anxiety and depression as teens the
young adults are not
okay yeah I believe that I saw even with
my own kids that the the mo like when I
was a
kid probably the time between 13 and 15
was the most difficult transition but I
saw that become older by the time my
kids my kids are 30 now basically by the
time my kids were young adults I could
see that that transition into adulthood
was the place where the difficulties
were starting to
mount I think perversely that the
therapeutic world has a fair bit to do
with this partly
because therapists who are basically
secular
liberal
Protestants that's a good way of
thinking about them tend to
conceptualize mental health as mental as
subjective right it's like mental health
is something you carry around in your
head like you carry around your identity
that's why we have these ridiculous
ideas that you can just Define your own
identity I am whoever I say I am well
obviously you're not because other
people what other people have to go
along with your game they're buddy and
they're either going to do that they're
not going to do it or they're going to
do it voluntarily or they're going to do
it by force if they're not going to do
it you're screwed if you have to use
Force that's not going to work and if
you want them to do it voluntarily then
it's not going to be all about you
obviously even no four-year-old can find
someone to play with if he always gets
to pick the game okay
so why might young adults be lost well
part of it is that they're thinking
I'm not trying to be judgmental of a
whole generation it's a it's a form of
thought your mental health isn't
dependent on you that's not the right
way to think about
it you I don't think you can be mentally
healthy in the absence of a long-term
stable relationship so you have to be
married let's put let's let's make that
part of the precondition for successful
adaptation as a young adult you have to
be married so you have to establish a
relationship with someone that
integrates sexuality that's there for
the long run because there for the long
run is the same as
sane there for tomorrow there for the
next minute that's not sanity that's
impulsiveness that's aimlessness they're
the same thing if it's what if it's all
about what you want right now or more
accurately all about what something in
you wants this moment that's the
definition of immature Insanity you have
to commit so you commit to someone else
you commit to your family you commit to
your community like there are multiple
levels of identity that stretch out into
the social world and voluntarily
adopting those levels of hierarchical
responsibility gives you an identity it
gives you a purpose it protects you from
anxiety it does that in all sorts of
ways like you know you said earlier that
one of the things you do is seek for
validation and you you related that to
uncomfortable experiences you had when
you were very young well it might not be
precisely that you're seeking for
validation you might be properly
investigating how you should be embedded
in a social
hierarchy at every possible level it's
like well people think their mental
health is something that they just carry
around in their head and that if they
just got the way they looked at the
world right or if other people just
played their game that all of a sudden
they'd be meant healthy it's
like there's no difference between
thinking about yourself and being
miserable technically if you if you if
you look at you can you can
group descriptive statements about
yourself
statistically all the all the
descriptive all the descriptors that are
reflective of self-consciousness load on
negative emot otion can you not think
about yourself in a positive
way probably not really
not well let's take that
apart you like doing your podcast and
you feel positive about it okay but your
podcast isn't about
you right so if you're thinking about
how you're of utility to a broad number
of people you know maybe you would take
some satisfaction in that but that isn't
exactly thinking about yourself is it
it's thinking about the relationship
you've established with other people and
it's a relationship of responsibility
why do you like your podcast you can
pursue what you're curious about but you
wouldn't have to do that publicly okay
so why do you do it
publicly for a few reasons first one
being that it keeps me accountable that
was one of the main reasons that it kept
me accountable because I knew that if I
didn't do it if I wasn't rigorous and
precise and and uh aligned with what I'd
said and done previously that there was
an external eye that's watching keeps
okay okay so well that's very
interesting so I would also say that's
not exactly about you that's about your
ability to live to establish Harmony
between what you say and the way you act
and the expectations that an
increasingly Broad Social Community has
a view as a consequence of what you say
and how you act okay that's not about
you that's about your nesting in a
social hierarchy right and so I think I
think you can and then you might say too
well maybe you're thinking about
yourself when you're establishing an aim
or a goal well not if they're good aims
or
goals because if they good aims or goals
and and I would say what good means
technically is an aim or goal that will
play out
well in the medium to long long
term across a multitude of situations
including many many people so the a
solution that iterates across
time that and that
is situation independent and that's
broadly socially inclusive is a better
aim right it's a higher aim because it
integrates more all right now you might
want to be setting up aims and you might
be pleased about how you're prog ressing
in relation to those aims but if those
aims aren't don't have the
characteristics that I just
described
then if the aims have the
characteristics I just described they're
not about you and then we could also ask
what do you mean about you exactly what
you are you talking about here you know
and so we play these identity games in
the modern world that are making people
anxious and hopeless and one identity
game is I'm defined by my sexuality okay
so let's take that I'm defined by my
sexuality okay but what do you mean by
your sexuality exactly do you mean the
opportunity to engage in sex like are
you reducing sexuality as such to the
act of sex okay let's say you are so now
what you're telling me is that who you
are is who you are when you're sexually
desirous that's what you've reduced
yourself to but it's even more than that
it's the kind of SE ual desire that
wants gratification right now with no
relationship whatsoever so not only have
you now reduced who you are to your
sexual desire you've reduced your sexual
desire to the minimal set of
preconditions that would satisfy it well
then the first question that might come
up there is why not just use porn it's a
lot simpler and the answer to that is
that is what people are doing well it's
no wonder that they're anxious and
Lonesome and aimless because they've
they've reduced themselves to to a
short-term desire they found the easiest
possible way of gratifying that and
they've abandoned everything that would
be a much broader conceptualization of
what sexuality would be if it was
embedded properly in how about a
relationship to start with and I'm not
just these aren't just opinions
so there are two different strategies of
reproduction broadly in the animal world
one is
zero
investment fish mosquitoes million
Offspring they all die but one right so
you can reduce reproduction in
mosquitoes basically to sex and you make
a million mosquito Offspring all you
need is one to survive problem solved
okay on the opposite end of the spectrum
literally are human beings because we
have the longest dependency period of
any animal by a large margin we have a
high investment strategy y sexual
reproduction strategy so whatever sex is
for human beings isn't you're off and
that's over that's not what it is for
human beings it's embedded in a
relationship now you might say well we
could pull sexuality out of the
relationship and just indulge in it for
the pleasure okay so now let's forget
about all the other animals now we've
got two types of human being we've got
the one night stand human being
repetitive one night stands and we've
got the long-term committed relationship
human being and then we might ask okay
what are the personality characteristics
of the people in those bins so let's go
to the short-term one night stand
sequential relationship types okay who
are they Psychopathic narcissistic
mellan and sadistic all one night stand
people if they don't start out that way
they're going to end that
way right because you can't use your
yourself or other people for short-term
gratification look the definition of a
psychopath is someone who uses someone
for short-term
gratification okay so it's definitional
right so and then you might say well I'm
not like that I just like sex it's like
yeah but if you practice that for five
years you're not going to become what
you practice you know
and I talked to Russell Brand about this
a little bit on and I can say this
because it was on his podcast so it's
not like this is secret you know Russell
had what Andrew Tate promis as his
followers he had Fame he was
charismatic and he had more or less
unlimited access to short-term sexual
gratification okay in combination with
you know the chemicals that make that
even more likely alcohol and cocaine
let's
say so what are the consequences well I
asked him what were the consequences you
had this he said uh despair anxiety and
hopelessness right but but not just that
because you know Russell got himself in
trouble here month and a half ago just
about took him out well it was his past
coming back to haunt him like and he had
to scroll through his psyche and see you
know well and with all these short-term
relationships these
short-term sexual gratification binges
that I indulged in did I ever cross the
line well the answer is well you're
going to have like 200 encounters like
that you're not going to cross the line
when you're drunk when you're on cocaine
you're going to cross a bunch of lines
and then it's going to come back and
haunt you and
so it's very interesting to see in our
culture back to the hopelessness and
despair that you were mentioning that's
characterizing young adults life it's
like well it's all about me that's the
self-esteem movement but then me becomes
it's all about what I want and then that
becomes it's all about what I want right
now then it's it's what the lowest part
of me wants right now and to hell with
everyone else it's like
okay how are you going to play that game
without being desperate you're going to
be desperate as soon as you start
playing that game and the other thing
it's even worse than that because you're
going to end up with
the Jeremy the the the porn star problem
anybody you're not going to be very
happy about being with the people who
want to play that game with you because
they're not going to be the people that
are really going to make you feel that
life is worth living they're going to be
the people especially on the female
side women who are willing to take
advantage of themselves for short-term
sexual gratification those aren't happy
women they're they're usually damaged
women and if they're not damaged when
they start playing that game they're
going to be plenty damaged by the time
they're done with it we'll get back to
talking to Jordan in one minute but
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