Adam Alter

Steve Jobs family iPad computer drug dealing technology

“Walter Isaacson, who ate dinner with the Jobs family while researching his biography of Steve Jobs, told Bilton that, “No one ever pulled out an iPad or computer. The kids did not seem addicted at all to devices.” It seemed as if the people producing tech products were following the cardinal rule of drug dealing: never get high on your own supply.”

― Adam Alter

world within between around shape thought feeling behavior

“Each of us is an ongoing product of the world within us, the world between us, and the world around us—and their hidden capacity to shape our every thought, feeling, and behavior.”

― Adam Alter

addiction strong connection Rome slave

“Addiction originally meant a different kind of strong connection: in ancient Rome, being addicted meant you had just been sentenced to slavery.”

― Adam Alter

loss difficulty challenge thrill victory climb mountain

“To some extent we all need losses and difficulties and challenges, because without them the thrill of success weakens gradually with each new victory. That’s why people spend precious chunks of free time doing difficult crosswords and climbing dangerous mountains—because the hardship of the challenge is far more compelling than knowing you’re going to succeed.”

― Adam Alter

Microsoft human attention span twelve seconds goldfish

“In 2000, Microsoft Canada reported that the average human had an attention span of twelve seconds; by 2013 that number had fallen to eight seconds. (According to Microsoft, a goldfish, by comparison, has an average attention span of nine seconds.)”

― Adam Alter

2008 adult telephone 2015

“In 2008, adults spent an average of eighteen minutes on their phones per day; in 2015, they were spending two hours and forty-eight minutes per day.”

― Adam Alter

addictive technology mainstream substance

“Addictive tech is part of the mainstream in a way that addictive substances never will be.”

― Adam Alter

line addict addiction

“There isn’t a bright line between addicts and the rest of us. We’re all one product or experience away from developing our own addictions.”

― Adam Alter

Freud Pemberton cocaine superiority century enamored technology

“It’s easy to look back at how little Freud and Pemberton understood of cocaine with a sense of superiority. We teach our children that cocaine is dangerous, and it’s hard to believe that experts considered the drug a panacea only a century ago. But perhaps our sense of superiority is misplaced. Just as cocaine charmed Freud and Pemberton, today we’re enamored of technology. We’re willing to overlook its costs for its many gleaming benefits:”

― Adam Alter

smartphone addict Nomophobia

“Meanwhile, in 2015, there were 280 million smartphone addicts. If they banded together to form the “United States of Nomophobia,” it would be the fourth most populous country in the world, after China, India, and the United States.”

― Adam Alter

willpower break self-reulation

“the problem isn’t that people lack willpower; it’s that “there are a thousand people on the other side of the screen whose job it is to break down the self-regulation you have.”

― Adam Alter