On the Death of Daydreaming

When I was nearly finished writing The Anxious Generation in the summer of 2023, I realized that I had left a gap. The book focused on the collapse of mental health, attention, and socialization of Gen Z-but again and again, older readers and friends would tell me: "this is happening to me too." I realized that the global transition to a phone-based life is transforming everyone's consciousness. But how? What exactly is happening to us?