Jonathan Haidt walked into Yankee Stadium on Thursday as one of New York University’s most controversial commencement speakers in recent memory—and left graduates with a surprisingly bullish message about the future.
Before the ceremony, students had protested NYU’s decision to select the social psychologist and Stern School of Business professor as the graduation speaker, arguing that the choice of Haidt, a vocal critic of cancel culture, doesn’t uphold “the values of inclusion, care, and respect for the graduating class,” that they deserved. During the ceremony, some students booed Haidt as he spoke while others walked out.
But Haidt—author of the bestselling The Anxious Generation—used the moment less to relitigate culture wars than to deliver what sounded, in many ways, like a commencement speech for an economy of distraction.
His core message to the Class of 2026: Your attention is your most valuable asset, and you should guard it accordingly.
“Treasure your attention,” Haidt told graduates. “What you pay attention to shapes what you care about and what you care about shapes what you become.” Here’s what he advised:
Spend Your Attention Like Capital
Haidt framed attention as a scarce and increasingly monetized resource. In a digital economy built around engagement, he warned graduates that some of the world’s largest companies are competing aggressively to capture their focus.
“Meta is valued at well over a trillion dollars, even though few of us have given it any money,” he said. “Because it invented a business model that extracts attention from nearly half of all human beings on the planet, and it sells it to advertisers.”
He described social media, gaming and even investing apps as industries increasingly “gamified” to maximize screen time and distraction.
Drawing on exercises from his NYU Stern course, Flourishing, Haidt said students are often shocked by how much better life feels after turning off notifications or deleting social media apps from their phones for even a week.
“They get back precious hours each day and a feeling of agency over how to spend that time,” he said. “For you and your life, it’s priceless.”
Do Hard Things Because Resilience Compounds
Haidt also argued that graduates should stop fearing discomfort and actively seek challenges.
“You should do hard things,” he said.
Then came the speech’s biggest laugh line: “In the words of two great philosophers, Friedrich Nietzsche and Kelly Clarkson, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
Haidt tied the point to his fellow NYU professor Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s idea of being “anti-fragile”—the notion that humans grow stronger, rather than weaker, through stress and adversity.
“Take chances,” he urged. “Say yes to anything that will expand your capabilities.” That can lead to better outcomes, Haidt suggested.
Invest in Real-World Relationships
Haidt saved some of his strongest advice for relationships, warning graduates about the “strange kind of loneliness” that can accompany adulthood in hyperconnected cities.
“Friendship now requires much more intentionality than it once did,” he said.
He encouraged graduates to prioritize real-world connection over digital interaction: Call people, invite friends to dinner, say yes to invitations and “be the one who makes things happen in the real world.”
And he closed with a broader message about flourishing in an age of distraction.
“If you treasure your intention and then use it to do hard things in real life with other people, then—and trust me on this as a social psychologist,” Haidt said, “your life is going to be amazing, and the world is going to be a far better place, because you’re in it.”
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