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1-Page Summary of Irresistible

Overall Summary

Adam Alter explores the relationship between humans and addictive technologies. He is a professor of marketing at New York University Stern School of Business and has written other nonfiction titles about human behavior, such as Drunk Tank Pink.

The book begins by saying that people are addicted to technology such as smartphones, video games, and the Internet. Experts say it’s not a good idea to spend more than an hour on your smartphone every day. However, many people spend at least three hours looking at their phones. Video game addiction is also a serious problem; some experts think up to 40% of gamers become addicted to playing online multiplayer games like World of Warcraft (WoW). There are even treatment centers for tech addicts around the world now because of this issue.

Addiction is a serious problem. People who are stressed or unhappy with their lives are more likely to become addicts. For example, if you get clean from drugs and alcohol, you’re less likely to relapse in a stable environment than in an unstable one. Like other addictive substances, technology can provide temporary relief from the stresses of life by stimulating your brain’s pleasure center. However, as someone repeats the behavior over and over again in order to achieve that same level of satisfaction, it becomes less effective each time until he has to repeat the action frequently just to feel normal again. This process is true for substance addictions as well as behavioral ones (like playing video games), but behavioral addictions tend to be easier to break because they don’t involve physical dependence like drug addiction does.

There are several health reasons to become less dependant on technology. You’ll lose sleep when staring at your computer screen too much, which can cause a slew of illnesses and depression. The lack of sleep will result in other problems that can lead to heart disease and death.

Technology is a double-edged sword. It can improve productivity and efficiency, but it also has the potential to become addictive. For example, an individual may receive an email and respond to it within seconds of its arrival. The person may think he or she is being productive by responding so quickly, but in reality this behavior leads to less productivity overall because that person will have trouble concentrating on other tasks after checking his or her inboxes frequently throughout the day. A 2012 study found that allowing people to check their emails only two times per day for several days led them to be more productive at work and increased their performance on specific tasks they were working on during those time blocks.

Social media is also a distraction, but unlike email it doesn’t provide consistent rewards. It’s hard to get likes and engagement from social media posts, so people post more often when they don’t know what kind of response their posts will get. This can lead to addiction problems because the reward system in the brain becomes inconsistent. A study conducted in the 1970s shows that birds push a button more often when they’re rewarded inconsistently than if they are rewarded every time.

Technology is a major part of our lives, and it can be addictive. People who are constantly exposed to technology often feel like they’re never able to relax. It’s easy for people to become addicted to the feeling of achievement or meaning that comes from repeating destructive behavior, even if things are going well in their life. Children tend to be very vulnerable when it comes to addiction because they don’t have as much experience with the real world yet and may not know how harmful an addiction can be until it’s too late. When trying to curb an addiction, it’s best for people find something productive that will replace whatever activity triggers them into mindlessly scrolling through social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter.