Trophies for Losers

Americans today, and especially young Americans, think much more highly of themselves yet know much less about the world around them than previous generations, according to a panel at the American Enterprise Institute on Thursday afternoon.

The panel, titled “The state of the American mind: Anti-intellectualism in America more than 25 years after Allan Bloom,” featured several contributors to the new book The State of the American Mind, published by Templeton Press.

The discussion was moderated by Adam Bellow, son of the late Saul Bellow. Bellow began the event by offering a definition of “the American mind,” suggesting it displays particular characteristics, such as “independent thought and action, thrift and industriousness, [and] delayed gratification,” and certain important influences, such as the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the Bible. It can be summarized as “individualism balanced by a sense of civic virtue,” he said.

Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University and author of the book Generation Me, discussed how members of the millennial generation view themselves.

“We do have more individualism, more focus on the self,” Twenge said.

However, this individualism is different than past forms of individualism that were more rugged and self-supporting, she argued.

“One way to put this is that it is a kind of delusional individualism,” Twenge said. “Thinking you’re great is as good as being great. … You suck, you still get the trophy.”

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