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readhikerepeat's review against another edition
3.0
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.
jelliott's review against another edition
3.5
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.
brittbat's review against another edition
4.0
Used for the book about technology section of the Read Harder Challenge.
rory18's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Medical content
Minor: War
cindy_r's review against another edition
3.0
There was a much greater look at addiction in general and a smaller look at overcoming technology addiction than I expected.
ageorgiadis's review against another edition
4.0
“Waterboarding in Guantanamo Bay sounds rad if you don’t know what either of those things mean.”
-p 123, Reddit post
I found this to be a great, tight little book about a behavioral addiction to which most of us have fallen prey. As a result of these pages, I downloaded apps that informed me that I use my phone 3-5 hours per day, and while that includes lots of podcasts, that is still too much. I pick it up an average of 52 times per day, and spend 20% of my waking time on my iPhone. It’s a sickness.
Adam Alter outlines addiction to substance and behavior, with lay and scientific research, anecdotal evidence from those whose lives have been upended by technology (addiction to World of Warcraft being a prominent example). You also get the history of Tetris, social commentary about raising kids in this environment, formal recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, and strategies to employ in combating this phenomenon. In short, abstinence isn’t the answer – replacement is.
This book is worthy, timely, and does not overstate its case. We all need to be aware of what is happening to our society. A technology that didn’t exist in my teenage years now takes 20% of my waking hours, and that is only one screen of many in my daily life.
“Medicalizing behavioral addiction is a mistake. What we should be doing is what they do in Taiwan and Korea. There they see behavioral addiction as a social issue rather than a medical issue.”
-p 23, Allen Frances
-p 123, Reddit post
I found this to be a great, tight little book about a behavioral addiction to which most of us have fallen prey. As a result of these pages, I downloaded apps that informed me that I use my phone 3-5 hours per day, and while that includes lots of podcasts, that is still too much. I pick it up an average of 52 times per day, and spend 20% of my waking time on my iPhone. It’s a sickness.
Adam Alter outlines addiction to substance and behavior, with lay and scientific research, anecdotal evidence from those whose lives have been upended by technology (addiction to World of Warcraft being a prominent example). You also get the history of Tetris, social commentary about raising kids in this environment, formal recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, and strategies to employ in combating this phenomenon. In short, abstinence isn’t the answer – replacement is.
This book is worthy, timely, and does not overstate its case. We all need to be aware of what is happening to our society. A technology that didn’t exist in my teenage years now takes 20% of my waking hours, and that is only one screen of many in my daily life.
“Medicalizing behavioral addiction is a mistake. What we should be doing is what they do in Taiwan and Korea. There they see behavioral addiction as a social issue rather than a medical issue.”
-p 23, Allen Frances
kbstein's review against another edition
3.0
I really liked some parts of this book. It encouraged me to make a real change in my life and I would’ve rated it higher due to that, but there were some sections I just really didn’t like.
In the middle of the book the author starts railing against fitness trackers and wearable devices. He says adding more metrics to our lives isn’t a good thing and that we lose track of the important thing which is to maintain health through exercise. While this may be the case for some people, I personally enjoy the gamification and goal setting wearables provide. The point he made becomes more confusing when the last chapter of the book is spent talking about how gamification can be used to help in areas of our lives. It was quite an odd dichotomy, maybe the author was trying to give both sides to the argument, but if that was the case he did a poor job framing it.
Overall a good book that I think most people can glean useful information from.
In the middle of the book the author starts railing against fitness trackers and wearable devices. He says adding more metrics to our lives isn’t a good thing and that we lose track of the important thing which is to maintain health through exercise. While this may be the case for some people, I personally enjoy the gamification and goal setting wearables provide. The point he made becomes more confusing when the last chapter of the book is spent talking about how gamification can be used to help in areas of our lives. It was quite an odd dichotomy, maybe the author was trying to give both sides to the argument, but if that was the case he did a poor job framing it.
Overall a good book that I think most people can glean useful information from.
sapphirestars's review against another edition
4.0
A really good eye opening read. It made me feel better about my own technology use while also giving me insight into brain chemistry and ways I can control and better understand my own usage. I am scared and also interested to see what the future holds in this regard. Would recommend.
liz_devito's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
2.0
A little fear mongery, but also contains so interesting information