SV Monthly Book Club : Irresistible

Book of the month:

Irresistible

by Adam Alter

About the Book

Irresistible by Adam Alter 

People have been addicted to substances for thousands of years, but for the past two decades, we’ve also been hooked on technologies, like Instagram, Netflix, Facebook, Fitbit, Twitter, and email—platforms we’ve adopted because we assume they’ll make our lives better. These inventions have profound upsides, but their appeal isn’t an accident. Technology companies and marketers have teams of engineers and researchers devoted to keeping us engaged. They know how to push our buttons, and how to coax us into using their products for hours, days, and weeks on end.

Tracing addiction through history, Alter shows that we’re only just beginning to understand the epidemic of behavioral addiction gripping society. He takes us inside the human brain at the very moment we score points on a smartphone game, or see that someone has liked a photo we’ve posted on Instagram. But more than that, Alter heads the problem off at the pass, letting us know what we can do to step away from the screen. He lays out the options we have to address this problem before it truly consumes us. After all, who among us hasn't struggled to ignore the ding of a new email, the next episode in a TV series, or the desire to play a game just one more time?

Adam Alter

Adam Alter is an Associate Professor of Marketing and Psychology at New York University’s Stern School of Business, and the author of Drunk Tank Pink, a New York Times bestseller about the forces that shape how we think, feel, and behave, and Irresistible, a book about the rise of tech addiction and what we should do about it.

Alter was recently included in the Poets and Quants “40 Most Outstanding Business School Professors under 40 in the World,” and has written for the New York Times, New Yorker, Wired, Washington Post, and The Atlantic, among other publications. He has shared his ideas at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity and with dozens of companies around the world.

Alter received his Bachelor of Science (Honors Class 1, University Medal) in Psychology from the University of New South Wales and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology from Princeton University, where he held the Charlotte Elizabeth Procter Honorific Dissertation Fellowship and a Fellowship in the Woodrow Wilson Society of Scholars.

About the SV Monthly Book Club : Register Here

The SV Monthly Book Club is a no-cost forum to discuss books and publications that touch on various topics about project and program management. It recurs on the 3rd Thursday each month, virtually. There is no club membership, and anyone can join the discussion forum of the month. To attend the forum, please pre-register (for free) and be sure you have pre-read the book of the month. Registration is necessary as we are limiting the number of attendees, so that everyone has a chance to express their opinion and listen to others.

This is a professional event. While we are open to opinions from all angles during the book discussions, please be respectful to the host and all attendees.

About the Event Leader

Marc Scotchlas is the event leader and discussion moderator

Registration

• Required and limiting attendees. First come first serve.
• Zoom link to be distributed to registrants on the day of the event. Look for a Zoom invitation the day of the event from scotchlas@gmail.com. Feel free to set that not to go to your junk mail.

Additional Information

Event Leader: Marc Scotchlas  {Click here to contact Marc}

PDU: Up to 5.0 PDU to complete the pre-reading; 1.0 to participate in the monthly meeting. PDU claim code available to attendees at end of event.

♦PDU claiming instruction