It is important to know that for many people around the world, the evolution of technology is a blessing that has made the lives of people stress-free. Imagine if there can be a life without technology! Well, I feel that so many people of our generation cannot adjust to a world without technology. It can be such a traumatizing experience to live in a world that is technology free. Even though most people would say that they can’t live a day without a phone, there are also a small group of people who argue that implications of technology such as spending too much time on a mobile telephone negatively affect the psychological well-being of people. The book “Irresistible” provides some of the best points (Alter, 2017). Therefore, this paper presents a detailed explanation of the reasons why I chose the book. I will also offer a highlight of some of the topics that made an excellent impression while also providing corroborating as well as contrasting views about the views of the author. I will also give a detailed explanation of why the information contained in this book has affected my professional actions. The improvement in the field of technology has brought with it numerous benefits in every aspect of human life. However, it is also vital to realize that technology is an addictive substance.

Book

I decided to choose to review “Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping us Hooked” by Adam Alter (Alter, 2017). It is also important to know that my choice of book was informed by the fact that I wanted to gain more knowledge in the concept of technology that is more addictive as alcoholism and drugs. Most people casually mention the aspect of addiction that is associated with technology quite often, and it is an observation that I can also support because most of the time I see people hooked up to the social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter. It is something that has somewhat influenced my opinion to believe that technology is addictive.

The topics of interest

I must confess that one of the two issues that deliberately grabbed my interest is how the author successfully liked the aspect of technological addiction to the addiction that comes with the use of alcohol and drugs. Alter argued that the ding that informs another person about the number likes a photo receives from social media is so refreshing. The bottomless stream of contents that comes from applications like Instagram are akin to a fix that makes people to regularly hit the refreshing button on the social media platforms while also looking impressively on the number of likes that their photos have garnered (Alter, 2017). The happiness and gratification that comes from social media likes and other related activities are the same as those drug addiction and alcoholism. The author also proposes solutions to the technological addiction that comes with social media platforms such as Facebook. The fact that the author is suggesting practical solutions to the problem of technological addiction is one of the areas that also impressed me to a great extent. For instance, the author suggests that hiding the number of social media likes from every social media platform can help to reduce the menace because when you check the number of likes, it is not visible and it will be so difficult to know precisely the number of people who like the posted content.

Corroboration and contradictions

It is also important to note that corroboration, as well as a contradiction, are present in Alters argument that technology and addiction exist. For instance, there is a source that explicitly cites the fact the different technology companies have innovated ways how to lace their applications with specific activities that promote the release of a chemical called dopamine that ensure that people are addicted to their platforms (Parkin, 2018). The other source also argues that the addiction and over dependency in the use of technology should not be compared to the addiction that comes with the use of drugs such as cocaine because it is always easy to stop using technology that it is to stop using drugs. The two opposing sources provide compelling evidence to support their point of view, and the only argument I would present is the fact that only time corroborates the severity of technological addiction on human life.

The Practice application

The information contained from this particular book will positively contribute to my personal as well as professional experiences. The author’s assertions made a lot of sense because it was compared to the findings in most of the psychological research that present the same arguments as those of his theories (Hoag, 2018). For instance, I have now made an important decision to manage the amount of time spend on my phone, post photos on social media and check my emails because it can bring about the debilitating effect of addiction.

Conclusion

In the 21^st century, the world has continued to witness a lot of technological improvements that only serve to transform the lives of the people. Even though technology is highly appreciated by almost all people regardless of the race, color, religion, and background, it is also important to know that it does have some negative impacts such as addiction that significantly affect the psychological orientation of people around the world. It is, therefore, important to realize that the book “Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of keeping Us Hooked gives a piece of elaborate information coupled with psychological studies that demonstrate the more significant effect of technology as compared to the impact of drug abuse and alcoholism. People should hence read this because it has lovely anecdotes that can be positively incorporated into an individual’s life to define the amount of technology that is beneficial to live once.

References

Alter, A. (2017). Irresistible: The rise of addictive technology and the business of keeping us hooked. New York: Penguin Books.

Hoag, T. (2018). From addiction to connection: Questioning the rhetoric of drugs in relation to student technology-use. The Journal of Interactive Technology & Pedagogy. Retrieved on February 1, 2019,  from https://jitp.commons.gc.cuny.edu/from-addiction-to-connection-questioning-the-rhetoric-of-drugs-in-relation-to-student-technology-use/

Parkin, S. (2018). Has dopamine got us hooked on tech? The Guardian. Retrieved on February 1, 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/04/has-dopamine-got-us-hooked-on-tech-facebook-apps-addiction