We've all been there. As soon as the credit titels of your favourite Netflix show are running down your television screen
Whenever an Apple Store opens its doors for the launch of a new iPhone, strange things happen to people. They queue-up around the block, waiting in line for hours in utter despair. Only to be lifted by and cheered on by the blue shirt wearing babbling brigade of employees, whom are purposely worshipping you when you leave the styled warehouse with your newly acquired addictive and overpriced glass pocket box. Yet, feeling amazed!?
Adam Alter, in his book "Irresistible" states that "In recent years, media and technology have perfected the lucrative art of gaining and holding our attention. This extraordinary feature has changed the behaviour of billions of people, and especially the young: by current medical standards, we are experiencing an unprecedented, global pandemic of addiction to our screens. But what, if anything, might we do about it?"
Getting you hooked
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Programming Apps or programming people?
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Hitting The Reset Button
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Conclusion
In a world where computer programmers, neuroscientists and entrepreneurs are working together, continuously tweaking their apps and hacking more and more into your brain, we have to accept that technology is far from neutral. We have to accept that the glass pocket box has conquered its place in our lives and more so, is and will be a remote control for you and your life for years to come. Does this mean that this market is considered to be the root of all evil and has to be called a halt? Maybe. You simply cannot fight the demand and the innovation that the market has. Adam Alter states the following simple conclusion; Technology offers convenience, speed and automation, but brings also large costs. Human behaviour is driven in part by a succession of reflexive cost-benefit calculations that determine whether an act will perform once, twice, a hundred times or not at all. When the benefits overwhelm the costs, it's hard not to perform the act over and over again, particularly when it strikes just the right neurological notes.
Brain hacking will be here to stay and you have to make your own decision if you dive in and indulge the great pleasures of letting you feel that extra bit more awesome when you open your Facebook feed or are swiping Tinder profiles. Or that you choose to be realistic an give yourself some space and freedom from the ever growing Google Mobile Services or its Apple equivalent. In that case, an Open-Source OS like Ubuntu Touch can be a good way to get a grip on the digital data mining and addictive applications.
At least, it will give you ownership of your life back