Beyond the Gift: Why I Shared “The Anxious Generation” With My Management Team and My Children
Last year I handed out copies of Jonathan Haidt’s book, The Anxious Generation, to two of the most important groups in my life: my management team at ATLANTIC GYMNASTICS and my own children, who are teachers. I didn’t do this just to share a “good read.” I did it because we are facing a cognitive emergency that is dismantling human potential in the gym, the office and the classroom alike. I want to believe that my kids and staff are not spending hours doomscrolling, but the reality is that many (most?) of their students do.
While the term “brain rot” began as Gen Z slang for the mental fog of doomscrolling, the science shows it is a legitimate deterioration of our intellectual state. We are currently witnessing a “sociological apocalypse” where short-form digital stimulation is rewiring our brains for the worse.
To My Management Team: Reclaiming Our Professional Depth
In the corporate world, they often talk about “agility,” but we’ve accidentally traded it for attention fragmentation. But even in the GYM WORLD I see the effects of “brain rot” in our staff meetings, our classes, our output every day and even our interaction with parents.
• The Productivity Drain: Research shows that the average worker is interrupted every three minutes. Crucially, it takes 23 minutes to return to a state of deep focus after one of these distractions. If we are constantly checking Slack or scrolling through “ultra-processed” digital content, we aren’t actually working—we are merely rehearsing distraction. I do NOT want my kids, my coaches, my friends working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Everyone needs a break. Work should be done at work. I would rather see my staff interrupted at work with an issue from home than the other way around. BUT, just taking a look at the numbers. As of early 2025, the average person spends approximately 2 hours and 21 minutes (141 minutes) per day on social media. While this figure marks a slight decrease from 2024, it still represents over 30 days per year spent on social platforms. Has any of that time contributed to your life in a positive way?!
• Reward Deficit Disorder: Internal documents from tech companies admit they have turned their apps into “slot machines”. This creates “reward deficit disorder,” where our brains become so binned on instant dopamine hits that we lose the ability to feel satisfied by long-term professional achievements.
• The “CEO” of the Brain: Biologically, constant digital stimulation hyperactivates the amygdala (our threat detector), which increases irritability and stress. Meanwhile, it “downregulates” the prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain responsible for the strategic thinking and impulse control that I rely on you for as leaders.
To My Children (The Teachers): Protecting the Next Generation
As teachers, you are on the front lines of what Haidt calls the “Great Rewiring of Childhood”. You see students who can’t read a single sentence without getting bored.
• The EdTech Blunder: We made a colossal mistake by putting “multi-function play devices” (laptops and tablets) on every student’s desk. Since 2012, global test scores have been in a steady decline because these devices act as “attention fracking” tools.
• The Sensitive Period: Puberty is a critical “sensitive period” where the brain locks down its permanent wiring. By allowing kids to spend 8 to 10 hours a day on screens, we are preventing them from learning the vital connection between hard work and reward.
• Popcorn Brain: You are teaching a generation with “popcorn brain”—a sensation where the mind is so used to the fast-paced “pop” of digital novelty that the “slow” pace of a classroom feels like torture.
The Common Thread: A Sense of “Horizonlessness”
Whether in the office or the schoolyard, “brain rot” is fueling a mental health crisis. Adults and teens alike are reporting a sense of “horizonlessness”—a feeling that there is nothing to look forward to and no point in working hard because the future feels invisible. We have become our own “night watchmen,” scanning for danger 24/7 through our feeds, which keeps us in a state of chronic hyper-vigilance that prevents true happiness.
Horizonlessness is a psychological state increasingly reported by adults where they feel they have nothing to look forward to, a feeling that directly sabotages human potential by stripping away the motivation to work toward a future. The human brain is evolutionarily wired for progress; when that sense of a future disappears, individuals often fall into a “what’s the point?” mentality regarding hard work, personal development, or professional effort. This state prevents adults from reaching their potential in several ways:
• Dismantling Motivation and Purpose: Reaching one’s capacity requires a meaningful relationship between oneself and their work, where they feel productive and useful to others. When the future feels invisible, adults may feel “useless,” leading to a destruction of human capital and a loss of the sense of meaning required to achieve long-term goals.
• Chronic Stress and Cognitive Drain: Horizonlessness is often exacerbated by a digital diet of “poly-crisis” information—constant real-time updates on global disasters—that keeps the brain in a state of chronic hyper-vigilance. This state triggers the amygdala (the brain’s threat detector), which in turn “downregulates” or quiets the prefrontal cortex.
• Impairment of Executive Function: Because the prefrontal cortex is responsible for executive functions like planning, strategic thinking, organization, and impulse control, its suppression makes it physically and mentally difficult for an adult to execute the steps necessary to fulfill their potential.
• Stifling Creativity and Reflection: Reaching one’s potential often requires “brain breaks” and boredom to activate the default mode network, which handles self-reflection and the generation of new ideas. Horizonlessness, combined with the “primal urge to scroll” to manage the resulting stress, prevents this network from working, meaning true ideas never have the “soil” they need to bloom.
Ultimately, horizonlessness traps adults in a defensive, short-term posture that prioritizes immediate dopamine hits over the sustained attention and effort required for mastery and success.
Reclaiming the “Quiet” Where Greatness is Born
This struggle is about more than just productivity; it is about being fully engaged in your life and the real world. Consider why we often have our best ideas in the shower: it is one of the few remaining places where we are not scrolling. As a society, we used to build and do great things, but human potential is now being diverted into a world where people merely try to “influence” others with curated photos.
We must rediscover that there is beauty in a bored brain. Boredom is not an empty space to be filled with “digital slop”; it is the “soil” in which resilience grows. When we allow ourselves to be bored, the “default mode network” in our brain kicks in, fostering the self-reflection and creative thinking where true ideas bloom.
How We Reclaim Our Humanity
The brain is elastic, but recovery requires intentional “digital hygiene”. I’m asking the managers at my gyms and my family and friends to join me in these changes:
1. Delete the “Slot Machines”: Remove addictive apps like TikTok, Instagram and Reels from your phone to break the dopamine loop.
2. Establish Geographical Boundaries: “Where you put your phone at night may be the most important decision you make”. Keep devices out of the bedroom to stop “revenge bedtime procrastination”—the habit of stealing your own sleep to scroll, which ruins your health and clarity the next day.
3. Grayscale Your Device: Turning your phone to black-and-white removes the “technicolor” appeal that triggers compulsive checking.
4. The Rule of Two: Your brain can only handle a couple of changes at a time. Pick two of these habits, stick with them for eight weeks to allow for neural rewiring, and then add more.
Attention is not something you have; it is something you train. Every scroll is a vote for the brain you are becoming—it’s time to start voting for the one that can think, create, and contribute to the real world.
