The Secret That Silicon Valley Giants Don’t Want You To Know with Dr. Adam Alter
Dec 30, 2023
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Dr. Adam Alter, a psychologist studying technology addiction, reveals the dangers of screens and how they are designed to be addictive. He discusses how screens rob us of time and attention, and provides strategies for breaking free from addictive behaviors. Topics include the dark side of technology addiction, the design of addictive apps, using stopping cues to influence behavior, the influence of environment on behavior, creating distance from your phone for a more engaging dinner experience.
Excessive screen time can negatively impact psychological well-being, social interactions, financial stability, and physical health.
Setting specific times or spaces as tech-free and introducing stopping cues can help break phone addiction and promote healthier screen time habits.
Being more mindful about how we use technology is crucial to prevent it from compromising our ability to engage with the real world.
Deep dives
The addictive nature of screens
Screens and technology are designed to be addictive, with companies like Facebook focused on getting users to spend as much time as possible on their platforms. This addiction leads to a decline in psychological well-being, including a decreased tolerance for boredom and reduced social skills. Additionally, excessive screen time can have financial consequences, such as overspending on in-app purchases, and physical consequences, such as a sedentary lifestyle and lack of exercise.
Negative effects of screen addiction
Screen addiction can negatively impact psychological well-being, social interactions, financial stability, and physical health. Spending excessive time on screens reduces our threshold for boredom, making it difficult to think creatively or divergently. It also hampers social skills, leading to difficulties in recognizing and responding to subtle emotions. Financially, screen addiction can result in overspending on games and other addictive apps. Moreover, excessive screen time often leads to a sedentary lifestyle, causing harmful effects on physical health.
Creating stopping cues and breaking phone addiction
To break phone addiction, it is suggested to introduce stopping cues or rules that distance you from your device. Setting specific times or spaces as tech-free, such as during dinner or a designated period before bed, can be highly effective. These rules help create boundaries and encourage healthier tech habits. Additionally, being mindful of how screens are used and actively setting alarms or cues to limit usage can also help in breaking phone addiction and promoting healthier screen time habits.
The Impact of Technology on Our Lives
The speaker discusses the importance of being more mindful about how we use technology and the potential consequences of allowing it to take over our lives. They argue that while technology is wonderful, we need to consider how it may compromise our ability to engage with the real world. They express concern about the growing influence of virtual and augmented reality and the potential difficulty of immersing ourselves in the real world when we have immersive virtual experiences at our fingertips.
The Biology of Behavioral Addiction
The podcast delves into the biology of behavioral addiction, challenging the notion that viewing likes on social media is comparable to taking drugs. They highlight the importance of both the brain's response to pleasurable experiences and the presence of psychological deficits that need to be soothed. They discuss the role of unpredictable rewards in driving addictive behavior and how companies incorporate these rewards into social networking platforms and apps. They also touch on the concept of setting artificial goals to increase engagement.
In this episode we discuss the danger of getting addicted to your screens. We look at how technology is designed to be as addictive as possible, and how those addictions specifically make you spend more time on things like social media and news that make you less happy. We discuss how screens rob us of time and attention and why it’s so hard to break away from them. We also look at how-how you can structure your environment to spend more time away from your phone and create ways to get out of these addictive behavior loops with our guest Dr. Adam Alter.