Reading Response to Irresistible

It is the year 2017 and everywhere you look children, adolescents and adults are glued to their electronic devices. Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked by Adam Alter is a real force for change. The book is inspiring and sometimes frustrating as Alter goes into immense detail about the theories and strategies of addictive behaviors and technology. Although I dislike Alter’s ability to shed light on my own addictive behavior, I appreciate the ways it opened my mind to how technology affects society as well as myself. I would like to point out what I like about this book, in terms of content, far outweighs what I dislike. For instance, the research, statistics, and overall relativity to me and society made it deeply thoughtful and inspiring.

What I like about the book is how much I learned because every piece of information is valuable in some way. This may be a personal opinion because even before entering the Media Literacy and Digital Culture program at Sacred Heart University, my reasons for being skeptical about addictive technology seemed to be perpetually at the ‘tip of my tongue.’ After reading this book, I learned about the history of behavioral addiction, how it is formed, and how to use strategies to fix it. I thoroughly enjoy Alter’s optimistic nature of harnessing behavioral addiction to form better habits in one’s life simply because it is inspiring in a world of rapid change. In addition to what I learned, I will offer some thoughtful questions about these topics as well as how I can address these issues going forward in my graduate program as a media literacy student and current art teacher for grades K-8.

In the beginning of the book, Alter introduces the six ingredients of behavioral addiction: “compelling goals that are just beyond reach; irresistible and unpredictable positive feedback; a sense of incremental progress and improvement; tasks that become slowly more difficult over time; unresolved tensions that demand resolution; and strong social connections” (9). Popular behavioral addictions, such as the overuse of iPhone applications or video games, manifest at least one of these ingredients (9). Many of these applications and games are built to be hard to resist and addictive in nature, but they can be used for positive change also (8). With that being said, why are games purposely being built to be addictive? Although Alter doesn’t choose to talk in depth about this, we know the answer is profit. I strive to help my students understand this one day through explicit instruction and the introduction of powerful video. As for the freshness of behavioral addiction he points out, “The age of behavioral addiction is still young, but early signs point to a crisis. Addictions are damaging because they crowd over essential pursuits, from work and play to basic hygiene and social interaction. The good news is that our relationships with behavioral addiction aren’t fixed” (10). Although I am saddened for the world to be in an early stage of crisis over these relatively new addictions, I do enjoy the moments of optimism in the book where Alter points out that our habits are changeable.

In the same way there is the behavioral addiction of the internet, gaming, gambling, or in my case of tidying up, there are two specific forms of behavioral addiction I found interesting: goal-setting and exercise. Alter explains how a marathon runner’s friend told the marathon runner himself that he was on track to finish a marathon in four hours and five minutes, knowing that he would achieve his goal of finishing in less than four hours (97). He told him this simply because he knew his friend would not slow down and would be happy to achieve his goal (97). The interesting part, I learned, lies in the question, “So what happens when you reach your goal?” (97). Alter explains that goals used to be about survival, not choice, like when society used to have to hunt for food (107). He then goes on to describe goal-setting in terms of wearable devices like FitBits that track every move you make, from the number of steps you take to your calorie intake. Leslie Sim, an exercise addiction expert, says, “Counting steps and calories doesn’t actually help us lose weight; it just makes us more compulsive” (114). Clearly, a healthy relationship with goals is necessary when it comes to overcoming behavioral addiction.

By pure chance, I was in the passenger seat on my way home from Boston, when I began reading the page in Irresistible about marathon milestones, while my best friend was running in her very first marathon in Newport, RI. When she called me later that evening, I had the opportunity to ask her a few questions about her experience. I asked her, how come marathon training doesn’t suggest running the full 26 miles? Her response was, “I don’t really know.” My next question was, how did you feel when you completed the race? Her answer was, “I felt great in the beginning, but the last half was really tough and I was really tired by the end because it began to downpour.” Without me asking another question, she said, “Once I am done being sore from the race, I have to figure out what I am going to do next.” The interesting part here is amplified when Alter points out what behavior expert Oliver Burkeman with the Guardian explains. Approaching life as a series of milestones is existing ‘in a state of near-continuous failure’ (117). Not only do they put us in a place of near-continuous failure, but the break less streaks that lead up to them “uncover the major flaw with goal pursuit: you spend far more time pursuing the goal than you do enjoying the fruits of your success (117). Alter sheds light on cartoonist Scott Adam’s view of how to live our lives. Adams suggests living our life in systems and creating small ways each day to provide happiness for ourselves rather than streaks or milestones (117). An example I am proud to have adopted is making time to create one small drawing a day. Clearly, goal setting and exercise addiction go hand in hand and it is just one way that magnifies how addictive technology, like wearable devices, can amplify our behavioral addiction.

Keeping in mind that I am going to discuss some of the ways Alter suggests we use behavioral addictions to promote positive habits within ourselves and others, I would like to point out some of what I learned to be problematic and/or interesting first. A smart phone is an extremely high-tech device behind a screen that allows you to be fully connected to the internet and communicating with others. An application, also known as an app, is something you can add to your phone, such as Instagram or Snapchat. Ironically enough, an app developer named Kevin Holesh decided to create an application that could track his daily screen time (14). Something alarming that he points out is that the eight thousand users of the app spent an average of one hundred hours on their phones which is the equivalent of eleven years (15). “On average, they were also picking up their phones about three times an hour. This sort of overuse is so prevalent that researchers have coined the term ‘nomophobia’ to describe the fear of being without mobile phone contact (an abbreviation of ‘no-mobile-phobia’)” (15). As you can see, these relatively new behavioral addictions are affecting us in a strange and almost hypnotic way.

Although drug addiction is not the exact same as behavioral addiction, Alter points out something interesting about Sigmund Freud, famous theorist of personality, sexuality, and dreaming was once addicted to cocaine. I learned about the parallels between behavior and drugs when Alter explains, “As his letters show, Freud discovered that cocaine, like any addictive stimulus, wore off and its effects weakened over time. The only way to recreate the original high was with repeated, escalating doses” (34). However, due to the technological aspect of video games, it’s interesting to note the connection between drug addiction and gaming itself. A former gaming addict, Isaac Vaisberg, used to play a video game called World of Warcraft, where players have the ability to form friendships because of how socially dependent the nature of the game is (61). In reference to going to school, Isaac himself said, “I would flip out and have panic attacks. Getting in the car in the morning I’d feel nauseated. The second I knew I didn’t have to go to school, these symptoms would go away” (61). Clearly, someone who is vulnerable to internet addiction knows how similar to drugs it can be and that the more they play, the more they need to play. Isaac eventually went on to succeed after multiple attempts in internet addiction centers and the establishment of such institutions further proves the point that the rise of the addiction is here and now. A question to consider is, are behavioral addictions more dangerous than drugs? Alter seems to think so when he notes a comment he received from a clinical psychologist, “It’s very easy to hide behind behavioral addictions—much more so than for substance abuse. This makes them dangerous, because they go unnoticed for years” (6).

In my opinion, the troubling part is that Isaac didn’t want to go to school, where people can connect face to face and form friendships in real time. It is evident that Alter and I agree when he explains, “The addictive online friendships that attract young gamers are dangerous, not for what they provide, but for what they can’t provide: a chance to learn what it means to sit, face-to-face, as you maintain a conversation with another person” (229). As a fifth-year art teacher, I may not know what it was like to teach fifty plus years ago, but I do know what it is like to teach now. I see in the classroom a high level of distractibility and lack of eye contact when students are communicating with adults. It is important to note that my observation is purely an observation, non-judgmental in nature as I have yet to experience the privilege of being a parent and, I too, have made many connections to my own behavioral addictions through reading this book. However, Alter points out, “Humans learn empathy and understanding by watching how their actions affect other people” (40). So the question is, how will students learn to empathize with others if they are constantly seeing their parents quickly nodding to them, while constantly checking their smartphones? Luckily, he explains how it is possible to promote positive interactions and appropriate technology use among children and how to follow those same guidelines ourselves.

I appreciate many of the strategies Alter provides for readers and one of them comes from a clinical psychologist, Hilarie Case. She explains that kids shouldn’t see screens until the age of two and they should only watch passive television until the age of seven when they should learn how to use technology interactively (245). “She also suggests limiting screen time to two hours per day, even for teenagers” (245). As a teacher and hopefully a future parent, I strive to utilize another strong tactic as outlined by Alter. He thinks we should be, “Approachable, Calm, Informed, and Realistic” and I couldn’t agree more (251).

I explained earlier that I am both a student and an art teacher at this moment in time. As I move through the Media Literacy and Digital Culture program, I may want to consider embodying his idea in my classroom when relating certain topics to my students. I strive to be approachable when they have questions, calm when delivering potentially frustrating information to them, informed about how to help them with these issues, but realistic about the amount of time I have to introduce these topics to them. If I don’t have enough time in my classroom to explicitly teach students about their device usage, how else can I help them to understand? Ironically, maybe I can create a video about technology use and its short history, but I know the possibilities do not stop there. In addition, Alter suggests that making mundane tasks into a game promotes interest, but that the real valuable reason to do something gets lost, such as when a child stops wanting to brush their teeth when it is no longer posed as a game by his parent (294 & 298).

Furthermore, on strategies to help us combat addictive technology, Alter suggests, “It’s far easier to prevent people from developing addictions in the first place than it is to correct existing bad habits, so these changes should begin not with adults, but with young kids” (258). With that being said, what do the adults like us do? The adults who have begun lives with a considerably less amount of technology, but are now faced with the vast array of addictive technology out there? Alter suggests changing our environments, specifically in regard to not letting temptation be in close proximity to you (274). For example, as I write this I do not see my phone anywhere because it seemed contradictory to be writing this paper, knowing it is a distraction whether it is on or not. I can also make sure I do not let my phone charge close to where I sleep at night because chronic sleep deprivation is a major medical issue tied to this social issue of behavioral addiction. Another suggestion Alter has is to stop the formation of addiction by disallowing ourselves to overuse (274). One way I could do this is to make sure I am aiming to use my phone less often, or stopping to ask myself if my smart phone or television is benefiting me in a positive way.

Being at the beginning of a graduate program in Media Literacy, I am still forming conclusions about how to promote positive social change. However, I do know that change can only start within first and, that being said, there are many ways I can use the questions and topics discussed in Irresistible to help transform my pre-existing negative habits into positive ones. Once I have a handle on my own behavioral addictions, then maybe I can start helping others to be in control also. In Charles Duhigg’s book, The Power of Habit, the golden rule consists of three parts: a cue, a routine, and a reward (268). I have a bad habit of tidying up, which Alter ironically deems an addictive behavior early in the book. My cue (whatever prompts the behavior,) was the amount of ‘stuff’ I used to consume, which may or may not have to do with advertising on addictive technologies. In addition, I receive an overwhelming amount of e-mails and text messages, which in turn prompts me to tidy up my environment as well. My routine of tidying up (the behavior itself) helps me to feel like my world is in order.

Due to the lack of time caused by technology, distractive technology was probably one of the causes for the lack of order with the ‘stuff’ in my life in the first place. “In the context of gaming, experts call this sensation the ludic loop—from the Latin louder, for playful. You enter a ludic loop when, each time you enjoy the brief thrill of solving one element of a puzzle, a new and incomplete piece presents itself” (177). Paralleling the ideas of gaming and tidying as being potentially and equally as addicting, KonMari Kondo, also known as a tidying up master, may be benefiting from ludic loops herself. Alter notes, “But KonMari has one tremendous asset: tidying up is a sort of open loop that demands closing. We hate to throw things out, but we also hate clutter. The people who shop obsessively become the same people who tidy obsessively, and the process becomes a self-perpetuating loop. Once you know to look, you start seeing loops like this one everywhere” (208).

Going forward I can use my own knowledge of my personal behavioral addictions to help me make better decisions, even if they are slightly obsessive, like saving for retirement. Now that I am a more conscious consumer in terms of technology and shopping and have awareness about my addictions, I can focus my energy on saving for retirement instead of obsessively tidying up. This focus can ultimately help me to stay less stressed and in the moment for important people in my life, like my family, friends, and students. I am fortunate to be an art teacher and I have to remember that I am helping to shape the future. If I can help students understand behavioral addiction that is most likely affecting them, then maybe they can pass along the information as well.

Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and The Business Of Keeping Us Hooked, does a wonderful job of helping readers to understand the importance of behavioral addiction, even given the freshness of it in society. Now more than ever, humans are finding it difficult to slow down their technology usage. I appreciated Adam Alter’s connection of internet addictions and drugs which led me to discuss the importance of acknowledging goal setting as a major behavioral addiction as well. Teachers, like myself, and parents should have a duty to use some of Alter’s strategies, along with the strategies of clinical psychologists he recognizes, to help our youth become less susceptible to the damaging effects of addictive technology. Although children are the most vulnerable right now, it is important for adults to begin taking action for their own addictive behavior, to better set the example. This is the only way positive social change can truly happen.

Alter, Adam. Irresistible: The Rise Of Addictive Technology And The Business Of Keeping Us Hooked. The Penguin Press.