Irresistible (Adam Alter)

Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked

Behavioral addiction has become rampant in our society today. Most of us are addicted to at least one behavior. We are addicted to the Internet. We spend hours playing games online, binge-watching TV, checking our work emails, watching Tik Toks, and obsessing over our Instagram likes and views. There are hardly any of us that can go a week without a smartphone. Most people would rather suffer physical harm than have their phones taken from them for an extended period.

In this bite-sized book, renowned author and professor of psychology Adam Alter shares his research on addictive behaviors, a troubling phenomenon of modern times. Alter explains the upward trend of child and adult addictive behaviors, examining how they started, how they are designed, the psychological tricks technological designers employ to make us addicts, and strategies to adopt to minimize dangerous behavioral addictions.

“Addiction originally meant a different kind of strong connection: in ancient Rome, being addicted meant you had just been sentenced to slavery.” ~ Adam Alter

Chapters:
00:00 Chapter 1
02:04 Chapter 2
04:23 Chapter 3
06:31 Chapter 4
08:46 Chapter 5
11:14 Chapter 6
13:26 Conclusion