In his new book Irresistible, Mr Adam Atler explains why we can’t stop checking our mobile devices.

In 2011, author and academic Mr Adam Alter took a flight from New York, where he lives, to Sydney, where he was born. “I planned to spend my time sleeping and writing,” he says, “but found myself playing a game called 2048 on my iPhone for almost the entire trip. On the days following the flight, I dreamed about the game and imagined myself playing, even when I was in meetings and spending time with my family.” Struck by this experience, he began to wonder what had happened to him, and was further intrigued when, returning to New York, he saw countless subway commuters exhibiting similar behaviour. Glued to their phones, they couldn’t get enough of 2048.

He started to look into the phenomenon of behavioural addiction, which ultimately led to the writing of his new book Irresistible, a comprehensive study of addiction and how it relates to contemporary society’s dependence on digital devices and the internet. In the book, he charts the history of behavioural addiction, bringing together fascinating stories about everything from Mr Sigmund Freud’s catastrophic experiments with cocaine to the risky business of getting too deep in World Of Warcraft, before analysing the hallmarks of the addictive experience and suggesting a few ways in which we might be able to wrest ourselves away from our unhealthy relationships with our smartphones.

Think none of this applies to you? Don’t be so sure. At one point in Irresistible, Mr Alter cites various studies to suggest that 41 per cent of the population have suffered from some kind of unhealthy dependence on the internet in the past year. Below, he expands upon some of the themes in his book, explains why Facebook is like Las Vegas and reveals some unbelievable facts about our mobile mania.

Why is behavioural addiction a particularly timely topic?

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Screens have never been more portable or widely available than they are now, and the apps and games they contain deliver faster rewards than any experiences have done before. In essence, they act like slot machines in a casino, except they aren’t tethered to any one location. You’re also forced to use them if your employer requires that you check emails after work hours, and if you’re like the millions of people who feel compelled to check their emails or social networking feeds throughout the day.

Why has addictive behaviour become so important to digital companies?

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Digital companies want you to buy their products, but just as much they require that you continue to use their products across time. Most people who buy apps use them for a short time, but then abandon them as they move on to others. An addictive app that people continue to use is useful for two major reasons. First, you’re more likely to buy another follow-up app or game from the same company the longer you use the first one. Second, many apps require follow-up purchases that mount as you continue to use them, especially games, which often contain in-app purchases that you have to make in order to continue playing. The longer you play, the greater the company’s revenue.

Does the presence of so much data in our lives turn everything into a potentially addictive experience?

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I’m not sure “everything” is addictive, but where you have data you have a way of measuring what engages people and what turns them off. With data you can fine-tune an experience, so the second, third and ongoing generations of the experience combine only its most compelling elements.

Can technology help us overcome our addictions?

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At this point, we’re so switched on so much of the time that switching off is almost always a good thing. Technology is miraculous, of course – it allows us to connect with loved ones who are far away and to share information with others almost immediately – but at the moment we’re overdosing and need to find a way to use tech more sustainably.

In writing Irresistible, did you learn anything about addiction that shocked or surprised you?

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I was surprised to learn that people use their phones for an average of three hours per day. That’s a staggering statistic, because between work, sleep and other survival activities, we don’t have much free time during the week as it is. But to sink three hours a day into phones leaves us very little time to engage with real people in the real world.

Are there any addictions that may become more prevalent in the future?

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The main candidate is virtual reality experiences, which are not quite mainstream yet. Experts suggest that virtual reality goggles and experiences will become mainstream within the next four years or so, at which point we’ll all have the choice of living in the imperfect real world right now, or slipping on a pair of goggles that will take us pretty much anywhere we’d like to be at any moment of the day. What could be more irresistible than that?

Irresistible: Why We Can’t Stop Checking, Scrolling, Clicking And Watching (Bodley Head) by Mr Adam Alter is out now

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