"The Binge Breaker"

The article begins with a very decisive quote from Tristan Harris, a former product philosopher at Google. He refers to his iPhone as “a slot machine in my pocket.” This quote is very intriguing because, I believe, this metaphor greatly highlights the addictiveness of our phones in the way that slot machines are in a casino. He explains that, "In short, we’ve lost control of our relationship with technology because technology has become better at controlling us." I feel this quote answers the great two questions of, what has caused the problem and, how did it happen. I not only, find that this article explains the dilemma with technology and our lack of self-control but, that the issue is much more broad than we may think since it applies to anyone who owns a cell phone. In today's society, there are more people with cell phones than running water in their homes. Therefore, it is easy to see how grand this problem is and how many people this effects. To further expand on Tristan's expertise on this topic, the article states that "He studied computer science at Stanford while interning at Apple, then embarked on a master’s degree at Stanford, where he joined the Persuasive Technology Lab." From there, Tristan explains that he is not against technology, he explains that he wants the best for humanity and he sees that the abuse of technology can carry some serious consequences. He explains that the main contributor is not the consumer but, the ethics of the company abusing the weak self control of the public for their own personal gain. He uses the app "Linked-in" as an example that the app was useless however, it thrived on the basic human need of social approval. He urges us to both, the consumer and businesses, to operate technology in moderation and to rely on ethics to perservere through this problem of addiction.