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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
Yikes! I am addicted!
This is a well written book on how technology is designed to reel us in and keep us hooked. I have started leaving my phone in another room when I go to sleep!
Alter gives many great (although in 2021 sometimes slightly dated) examples and stories making this a very entertaining non fiction book.
This is a well written book on how technology is designed to reel us in and keep us hooked. I have started leaving my phone in another room when I go to sleep!
Alter gives many great (although in 2021 sometimes slightly dated) examples and stories making this a very entertaining non fiction book.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
A book about the social psychology behind the design of interaction of most applications we use everyday in the online world. The book presents some problems, exaggerations and lack of evidence, mostly if you are looking for therapeutic approaches to the addictions of these technologies. I've made a long analysis in Portuguese for my blog.
Podem ler uma extensa análise no Virtual Illusion, "Por que não conseguimos parar de olhar para os nossos Smartphones?" (https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.pt/2017/04/por-que-nao-conseguimos-parar-de-olhar.html)
Podem ler uma extensa análise no Virtual Illusion, "Por que não conseguimos parar de olhar para os nossos Smartphones?" (https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.pt/2017/04/por-que-nao-conseguimos-parar-de-olhar.html)
The beginning was interesting enough. The majority of the book was an impressively large quantity of stories about behavior addiction. I bought the book knowing that addiction is the problem, not needing examples. If I could do it over I'd skim the beginning, skip the middle, and skim the end.
Originally reviewed at The Book Wheel.
Like most people I have a love/hate relationship with technology. I love waking up in the mornings and checking my Twitter feed and the news but I hate how the distraction can make me run late. I love the satisfaction of hitting my step goals but I hate that I feel compelled to log what I eat. I love being connected to other people but I hate the guilt that comes with not responding to something right away.
These situations are not unique to me but that doesn’t mean it has any less of a personal impact. Technology, for all of its benefits, has a lot of drawbacks which have been studied more and more over the past several years. Parents who live a distracted life tend to foster that distraction in their own children. Always looking for the next like or favorite on social media can impact self-esteem. And let’s not forget that screen time can interfere with concentration, productivity, and even our sleep.
We know these things, yet we continue to incorporate more and more technology into our lives, myself included. So why do we do it?
Irresistible by Adam Alter takes a fresh look at how technology impacts our daily lives and why we let it happen. While he covers the more popular subjects that were mentioned above, he also delves into the psychology and biology behind our obsession and how anyone can fall victim to it. Using approachable and practical examples that everyone can relate to, Alter analyzes how outside forces and our own biology help foster the love/hate relationship. From games and apps designed to keep us hooked to the constant elevated heart rate that checking our work emails creates, he covers the spectrum of our obsession and shines a light in how even the most self-aware user often ignores the warning signs.
There are plenty of articles online about how to step away from the Internet and connectivity, but doing so can do a lot more for your health than just improve your state of mind. For example, the average person checks their work email 36 times an hour and opens it within six seconds. What does this mean for productivity when it takes up to 25 minutes to get back to productivity in the first place? Imagine what we could accomplish if we just turned our notifications off.
And what about wearables? After reading this book, I stopped wearing my FitBit because I realized I would pace my house at 11 PM in order to hit my step goals. It was tough at first because I like accomplishing things and those little green stars are very rewarding, but in hindsight I see how it was interfering with my sleep because I was elevating my heart rate before going to bed.
Technology is amazing, and Alter does not advocate for giving it up, rather using it more responsibly and being aware of how you, personally, react to it. If you find yourself ignoring your own health for the benefit of a step goal, then it’s time to step away. If you find yourself ignoring your children because you want to check Facebook, then it’s time to step away. The repercussions of not doing so go far beyond our personal mental well-being and can impact our health, our relationships, and more. So while I may not be giving up my cell phone anytime soon, I am taking steps to rely on it less. After all, my health relies on it.
Like most people I have a love/hate relationship with technology. I love waking up in the mornings and checking my Twitter feed and the news but I hate how the distraction can make me run late. I love the satisfaction of hitting my step goals but I hate that I feel compelled to log what I eat. I love being connected to other people but I hate the guilt that comes with not responding to something right away.
These situations are not unique to me but that doesn’t mean it has any less of a personal impact. Technology, for all of its benefits, has a lot of drawbacks which have been studied more and more over the past several years. Parents who live a distracted life tend to foster that distraction in their own children. Always looking for the next like or favorite on social media can impact self-esteem. And let’s not forget that screen time can interfere with concentration, productivity, and even our sleep.
We know these things, yet we continue to incorporate more and more technology into our lives, myself included. So why do we do it?
Irresistible by Adam Alter takes a fresh look at how technology impacts our daily lives and why we let it happen. While he covers the more popular subjects that were mentioned above, he also delves into the psychology and biology behind our obsession and how anyone can fall victim to it. Using approachable and practical examples that everyone can relate to, Alter analyzes how outside forces and our own biology help foster the love/hate relationship. From games and apps designed to keep us hooked to the constant elevated heart rate that checking our work emails creates, he covers the spectrum of our obsession and shines a light in how even the most self-aware user often ignores the warning signs.
There are plenty of articles online about how to step away from the Internet and connectivity, but doing so can do a lot more for your health than just improve your state of mind. For example, the average person checks their work email 36 times an hour and opens it within six seconds. What does this mean for productivity when it takes up to 25 minutes to get back to productivity in the first place? Imagine what we could accomplish if we just turned our notifications off.
And what about wearables? After reading this book, I stopped wearing my FitBit because I realized I would pace my house at 11 PM in order to hit my step goals. It was tough at first because I like accomplishing things and those little green stars are very rewarding, but in hindsight I see how it was interfering with my sleep because I was elevating my heart rate before going to bed.
Technology is amazing, and Alter does not advocate for giving it up, rather using it more responsibly and being aware of how you, personally, react to it. If you find yourself ignoring your own health for the benefit of a step goal, then it’s time to step away. If you find yourself ignoring your children because you want to check Facebook, then it’s time to step away. The repercussions of not doing so go far beyond our personal mental well-being and can impact our health, our relationships, and more. So while I may not be giving up my cell phone anytime soon, I am taking steps to rely on it less. After all, my health relies on it.
Interesting topic but often the anecdotes and studys don't support the points being made. A lot of this information is better written in other books. In fairness in 2017 this was probably relatively forward thinking.
Used for the book about technology section of the Read Harder Challenge.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content
Minor: War
There was a much greater look at addiction in general and a smaller look at overcoming technology addiction than I expected.