In his book Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked, Adam Alter explores the way technology is addictive to the human brain. He highlights many real-life examples and goes as far as to make connections for each one of his points to a historical period of time when addiction was as prominent as our technological addiction is currently. He additionally explores the way our behaviors, emotions, and thoughts are altered by the addictive nature of technology. His key focus in the book was on how technology causes us to become behaviorally addicted to our devices and the media. He emphasizes that there is not that big of a difference between substance addiction and behavioral addiction throughout the book as well as the way each addiction affects us as human beings.
This 320-page book is not one that should be left on the shelf to collect dust. If you have ever wondered why we get so addicted to our devices and how it occurs, this is the book for you. Media and technology have become a huge part of society in such a short amount of time and this book holds the reasons as to why. I was surprised by how in-depth Alter’s discussion was on addictive technology and every point he made did not disappoint. He not only pointed out the addictive behavior forming within society, but he also acknowledged connections to different types of addiction to prove the strength of this dangerous addiction to technology.
I personally really enjoyed the book because it opened my eyes to how bad technology can truly be, even though it has so many positive aspects to it. When he connected technology to morphine usage during the Civil War, it allows for a greater connection and meaning to be made and for the reader to reflect on their use of technology to see if they have fallen down the same spiraling path as a person struggling with addiction to substances. Reading this book I was trying to find items to disagree on but I honestly just could not. Alter backed up his points perfectly and did not leave any piece of evidence unconnected to his large picture of how dangerous behavioral addiction is when it comes to the introduction of technology.
When looking at the media today, the average person does not take a step back to try and determine why we are so reliant on our devices. Alter elaborates thoroughly with concise examples as to why we humans do the things we do when it comes to technology. When Alter specifically emphasized addiction being related to the location you are in, it settled in how bad phones are because they go with us everywhere. When he connected the Heroin usage and the Vietnam soldiers it struck because the addiction to a phone is the same as a soldier’s addiction to a very dangerous drug. Alter mentions how sleep deprivation is caused by the addiction to technology and that also blew my mind.
I can one hundred percent say that every point brought up by Alter was well-written and thought out. It truly shows the psychological aspect of technology and its usage on the human brain. The lessons taught by Alter I believe are very important to keep not only myself but all those who read it safe while using technology. Additionally, it provides a guideline for its readers to keep themselves healthy, which is why I truly enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to others. I believe that Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked is a book worth reading, it’ll have you hooked as much as technology has us hooked on our devices.
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