The End of Loneliness

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I saw social media taking away this experience that had been for a long time kind of essential experience of being human. Now we have TikTok on our phones and it's just constant. The thing about social media is that you know the world is always with us as words worth would have said when we're on social media. It's impossible to get away from the group and what the group wants of you from what your friends expect you to be. And related to some of the things that we've been talking about this is one of the things I saw among students that they didn't have the ability to develop a self that was solid enoughThat was strong enough to push back against the expectations that

William Deresiewicz is an American author, essayist, and critic. He taught English at Yale University from 1998 to 2008. He is the author, among other books, of Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life.

In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and William Deresiewicz discuss how the intensely meritocratic nature of elite universities prioritizes striving over deep learning; the instrumentalization of traditional pursuits to the detriment of mastery; and how broader cultural transformations frustrate deep immersion in art, friendship, and learning.

This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

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