A countercultural movement is spreading across the United States, rejecting technological optimization and digital surveillance in favor of subjective, emotional, and analog experiences. The coalition includes neo-Luddites, techno-pessimists, and people abandoning social media and smartphones, prioritizing authentic human connection over tracked, quantified living.
Psychologist Peter Gray's new book challenges Jonathan Haidt's influential theory that social media harms teen mental health, arguing instead that rigid schooling and reduced childhood autonomy are the primary culprits. Gray contends research shows no meaningful correlation between social media use and mental health decline, and that teens themselves identify school pressure, not phones, as their top source of anxiety.