The Digital Delusion
How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids' Learning, and How to Help Them Thrive Again
The Digital Delusion by Jared Cooney Horvath (2026) — An educational neuroscientist's data-backed case that student-facing classroom technology conflicts with how humans learn, and that the cognitive decline showing up in Gen Z is the result.
Reviewed by Ryan Vet · Last updated
What is The Digital Delusion about?
Neuroscientist and educator Jared Cooney Horvath dismantles the core myths driving the classroom-technology movement. Drawing on decades of neuroscience and education research, he ties the long decline in student test scores to the rush to put a laptop or tablet in front of every child, and argues that this generation is measurably less capable cognitively as a result. The book offers a practical playbook for putting people, not programs, back at the center of learning. First self-published in December 2025, it is re-released by Harmony on August 18, 2026 with roughly 25% more material.
Ryan's take
Ryan cited this book on Cowboy State Daily to make the case that cognitive erosion is real and measurable. Horvath's argument, that classroom technology has coincided with a genuine decline in kids' cognitive ability, is one of the sharpest data-backed challenges to the idea that more screens automatically means more learning. Jared joined The Ryan Vet Show on August 17, 2026, the day before the Harmony edition's release, to walk through the mechanism behind it.
What others are saying
“Not anti-tech, but pro-learning. If you are an educator or a parent, you’ll want to read this book to understand how technology is changing education and changing children.” — Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation
“A thoughtful and important takedown that every parent should read.” — Johann Hari, author of Stolen Focus
“Terrifying and essential reading.” — Hugh Grant
“A must-read for parents and educators everywhere.” — Anna Lembke, MD, author of Dopamine Nation
Where Ryan has discussed this book
Every generation had outperformed its parents on cognition, until Gen Z. Educational neuroscientist Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath explains what decoupled learning from school, and why AI tutors make kids better at AI tutors and little else. Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath: The Digital Delusion, AI in Schools, and Gen Z's Cognitive Decline Books like The Digital Delusion
Publication details
- Publisher
- Harmony (Penguin Random House)
- Published
- 2026
- Pages
- 464
- Format
- Paperback
- ISBN-13
- 9798217423965
