An investigation into behavioral addiction, the dark flipside of today's digital technologies, and how we can turn the tide to regain control. Experts are beginning to acknowledge that we are all potential addicts. Psychologist Adam Alter conducts research into what makes these products so compulsive, and he documents the price we're likely to pay if we continue blindly down our current path. We have become hooked on technologies, such as Instagram, Netflix, and Facebook - inventions that we've adopted because we assume they'll make our lives better. These inventions have profound upsides, but their extraordinary appeal isn't an accident. Technology companies and marketers know how to push our buttons, and how to coax us into using their products for hours, days, and weeks on end. The author takes us inside the human brain at the very moment we score points on a smartphone game, or see that someone has liked a photo we've posted on Instagram. He lets us know what we can do to step away from the screen before it consumes us.

2017-09