Irresistible

these were the people who were concerned enough about their screen time to download a tracking app in the first place. There are millions of smartphone users who are oblivious or just don t care enough to track their usage and there s a reasonable chance they re spending even more than three hours on their phones each day.

Perhaps there was just a small clump of heavy users who spent all day, every day on their phones, dragging the average usage times higher. But Holesh shared the usage data of eight thousand Moment users to illustrate that wasn t the case at all:

Most people spend between one and four hours on their phones each day and many far longer. This isn t a minority issue. If, as guidelines suggest, we should spend less than an hour on our phones each day, 88 percent of Holesh s users were overusing. They were spending an average of a quarter of their waking lives on their phones more time than any other daily activity, except sleeping. Each month almost one hundred hours was lost to checking email, texting, playing games, surfing the web, reading articles, checking bank balances, and so on. Over the average lifetime, that amounts to a staggering eleven years. 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 ).

Smartphones rob us of time, but even their mere presence is damaging. In 2013, two psychologists invited pairs of strangers into a small room, and asked them to engage in conversation. To smooth the process, the psychologists suggested a topic: why not discuss an interesting event that happened

Daniel H. Pink, author of To Sell Is Human and Drive

For many, social media presents an ideal mode of expression, but it also holds the danger of becoming a crutch or as Adam Alter s brilliant new book illustrates a behavioral addiction that threatens to undermine our mental health and relationships. Irresistible offers a crucial understanding of how we are psychologically tethered to our devices, along with much-needed solutions so that we can live rich, meaningful and healthy lives in an increasingly tech-driven age.   Susan Cain, co-founder of Quiet Revolution and New York Times bestselling author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can t Stop Talking

Adam Alter has achieved the Holy Grail: a book that s important, insightful, and a pleasure to read. With cutting-edge research about our tech-obsessed world, he soothes us via novel solutions to wean us from our social networks, smartphones, games, fitness watches and other gadgets. He also illustrates the stakes: that these technologies are preventing us from forming meaningful relationships, raising empathetic children , and separating work from sleep and play. Irresistible is essential reading if you ve ever wondered why some experiences are so addictive, and how to regain control of your time, finances, and relationships.   Charles Duhigg, author of New York Times bestseller The Power of Habit
 
In Irresistible, Adam Alter illuminates the surprising, fascinating, and frightening biological and psychological connections between a toddler hitting every button in an elevator, a surgical patient asking for painkillers, and the millions of people hooked on Facebook. No one who has ever seen an advertisement, checked their email on a smartphone, or used the Internet will come away quite the same.   David Epstein, author of New York Times bestseller The Sports Gene

I originally wrote this sentence on an analog word processor that is, paper. Such was the impact of Adam Alter's meticulous research into behavioral addiction that I've become increasingly frightened of the monster that is my computer. Alter isn't an alarmist, and is evenhanded and rational in his approach toward technology, which makes his fascinating and witty book all the more powerful. In a world of ever-increasing connectivity and omnipresent screens, Irresistible is absolutely essential reading. But for your own sake, buy the paper version.   Maria Konnikova, author of The Confidence Game and Mastermind
 
There could be no better guide than Adam Alter to a technological landscape that s increasingly designed to turn us into addicts. Irresistible is both a brilliant exploration of the sometimes sinister ways we get hooked, and a manual for finding focus and human connection in the midst of it all. Your sanity will thank you for reading it.   Oliver Burkeman, author of The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking 

Looked at your phone recently? I thought so. Our devices have become more addictive than any drug, and thanks to Irresistible, now we know why. A powerful look at how technology sucks us in, and what we can do to resist its pull.   Jonah Berger, author of New York Times bestseller Contagious 

We live in an age of addiction seemingly benign and otherwise and Adam Alter, mixing the latest in behavioral science with briskly engaging storytelling, wakes us to an age-old problem that has found troubling new expression in the era of ubiquitous technology. You may never look at your smartphone in the same way again.   Tom Vanderbilt, author of Traffic and You May Also Like

Adam Alter s brilliant book is a necessary map for navigating a digitally connected world that s teeming with addictive temptations. It's also a crackerjack box of fascinating scientific discoveries on games, habits, and behaviors. I circled, starred, underlined, or wrote exclamation marks on basically every page.   Derek Thompson, Senior Editor at The Atlantic, and author of Hit Makers

A provocative, clearly written book that argues new technology causes new addictions.   Kevin Ashton, author of How to Fly a Horse

[A] superb study of Internet addiction.   Nature  
 
A book [that] lives up to its title.   New Scientist
 
Contains smart and ­fascinating analysis of how social media apps, gambling sites and computer games have been engineered to hook users.   New Statesman (UK)

Adam Alter makes the frightening case that . . . modern connectivity threatens the health of not just our children, but everyone . . . Alter s book is illuminating on the ways that designers engineer behavioural addiction . . . Fascinating. The Guardian 
 
With a background in psychology and marketing, Alter brings a specialist eye to his material, and it shows . . . A fascinating, salutary read . . . Compelling. The Daily Telegraph (UK) 
 
Digs down into exactly how technology has us hooked by tapping in to our deepest needs and desires . . . Irresistible brims with insightful studies, explaining arcane concepts in science and tech with great clarity. The Times (UK)