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300 reviews for:
Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked
Adam Alter
3.7 AVERAGE
300 reviews for:
Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked
Adam Alter
3.7 AVERAGE
Had me IN the first half, second half was so repetitive
I'm not sure this book is great, but it did motivate me to download an app to limit and track my smartphone usage, which has been very eye-opening. So I would say it accomplishes it's goal.
Good overview of the psychology that fuels addiction and how it applies to technology use. It goes over the standard stuff - social media, email, news, etc. but the perspective on wearable technology changing our relationship to exercise was something I’d never thought of and found impactful. I read this back to back with Atomic Habits and found it to be a good accompaniment as they refer to similar research and share a few ideas. 4 stars because it felt a little repetitive at times but I still highly recommend for anyone interested in the topic.
Found the tone to be kind of irritating in a way that's hard to describe -- felt sort of like if someone transcribed a marketing consultant's TED talk and asked ChatGPT to change the tone to sound more like a self-help book. Overall, though, I think it does a good job of pointing out predatory architectures and the psychology behind why we are all Hooked On Phones.
Farmville and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.
Farmville and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.
informative
inspiring
reflective
Welp. I don’t know if this was the author’s intention, but reading this made me want to try cocaine. It sounds AWESOME.
Anyway, I read this as a way to bring some more meta-cognition / awareness to my already increasing awareness of my habitual turning towards tech to soothe (as I write a review on my tiny screen in bed because I cannot sleep and am hyped up on reading some super fun and thought provoking sci-fi shorts, my current cocaine...?).
There were some interesting studies I wasn’t aware of (kittens raised in boxes with vertical vs horizontal stripes and how that affected their ability to perceive the world around them... FOREVER), oh, and learning about the history of addictions in broad strokes was something that I was happy to learn about as well (yay broader context!). I had no idea Freud struggled with cocaine addiction for 12 years! And it was fun to hear qat (or some form of it), that common scrabble word, actually mentioned somewhere outside of scrabble!!
Learning about the new-to-me loopholes that casinos can utilize to make slots more addictive is kind of enraging, especially after having listened to podcasts on how bad gambling addictions can be.
I’m still chewing on his thoughts and writing on goal “addiction”— I related to feeling “wait, is that it?” once I had finished running my first 50km race (I’m not athletic nor a runner by nature, this was just a crazy goal inspired by ambitious and inspiring coworkers as well as Youth), so I understood that piece of not ultimately feeling satisfied from goals because you’ll just chase the next one...but I also don’t know if I could motivate myself with just small daily goals that contribute to my well being (I realize how ridiculous this sounds, but it’s true).
I mean, it sounds nice and practical, but I also feel like there is something missing when that’s all there is. Having a big juicy goal pushes me to do things I might not normally do (and enjoy—like running in rural japan through forest paths and beautiful snowy/crunchy vistas), and I think is what keeps me volunteering at certain orgs. Because of that future vision.
Hm, maybe his point is to just be aware of this possibility of brain game hijacking, and to make sure that we are using that power for good.
In summary: Decent book. Exceeded my (low) expectations.
Anyway, I read this as a way to bring some more meta-cognition / awareness to my already increasing awareness of my habitual turning towards tech to soothe (as I write a review on my tiny screen in bed because I cannot sleep and am hyped up on reading some super fun and thought provoking sci-fi shorts, my current cocaine...?).
There were some interesting studies I wasn’t aware of (kittens raised in boxes with vertical vs horizontal stripes and how that affected their ability to perceive the world around them... FOREVER), oh, and learning about the history of addictions in broad strokes was something that I was happy to learn about as well (yay broader context!). I had no idea Freud struggled with cocaine addiction for 12 years! And it was fun to hear qat (or some form of it), that common scrabble word, actually mentioned somewhere outside of scrabble!!
Learning about the new-to-me loopholes that casinos can utilize to make slots more addictive is kind of enraging, especially after having listened to podcasts on how bad gambling addictions can be.
I’m still chewing on his thoughts and writing on goal “addiction”— I related to feeling “wait, is that it?” once I had finished running my first 50km race (I’m not athletic nor a runner by nature, this was just a crazy goal inspired by ambitious and inspiring coworkers as well as Youth), so I understood that piece of not ultimately feeling satisfied from goals because you’ll just chase the next one...but I also don’t know if I could motivate myself with just small daily goals that contribute to my well being (I realize how ridiculous this sounds, but it’s true).
I mean, it sounds nice and practical, but I also feel like there is something missing when that’s all there is. Having a big juicy goal pushes me to do things I might not normally do (and enjoy—like running in rural japan through forest paths and beautiful snowy/crunchy vistas), and I think is what keeps me volunteering at certain orgs. Because of that future vision.
Hm, maybe his point is to just be aware of this possibility of brain game hijacking, and to make sure that we are using that power for good.
In summary: Decent book. Exceeded my (low) expectations.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.25/5 stars
Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked is a non-fiction novel exploring what causes individuals to become addicted to screens, how this addiction effects their lives, and what can be done to prevent these additions or deal with them.
I’d argue that Irresistible is more a novel that focuses on what addictive behaviour is and how its dealt with, screens just seem to be the main example used in the novel. There are a lot of interesting points made in this novel and well as some great discussion had on how this is a problem today, and what we can do about it. I personally feel motivated to change some of my own behaviours in regards to technology after reading this, and I really do feel that that is the major benefit of reading this novel. If this is at all interesting to you, I highly recommend checking it out as it is a quick read that I think everyone who uses a smartphone should pick up.
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Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked is a non-fiction novel exploring what causes individuals to become addicted to screens, how this addiction effects their lives, and what can be done to prevent these additions or deal with them.
I’d argue that Irresistible is more a novel that focuses on what addictive behaviour is and how its dealt with, screens just seem to be the main example used in the novel. There are a lot of interesting points made in this novel and well as some great discussion had on how this is a problem today, and what we can do about it. I personally feel motivated to change some of my own behaviours in regards to technology after reading this, and I really do feel that that is the major benefit of reading this novel. If this is at all interesting to you, I highly recommend checking it out as it is a quick read that I think everyone who uses a smartphone should pick up.
Blog | Instagram | Twitter
challenging
medium-paced
Truth in this concept - absolute truth. Not the best execution of the point & how to avoid the pitfalls in our society.