Joe Rogan Experience #1564 - Adam Alter

Adam Alter is a Professor of Marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business and the author of two books, Drunk Tank Pink, and Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked. https://www.amazon.com/Irresistible-Adam-Alter-audiobook/dp/B06WGMQBBM

Joe RoganhostAdam AlterguestJamie Vernonguest

Nov 13, 20202h 2mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: November 13, 2020
Duration: 2h 2m
Channel: The Joe Rogan Experience
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Adam Alter is a Professor of Marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business and the author of two books, Drunk Tank Pink, and Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked. https://www.amazon.com/Irresistible-Adam-Alter-audiobook/dp/B06WGMQBBM

SPEAKERS

Joe Rogan
host
Adam Alter
guest
Jamie Vernon
guest
Narrator
other

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Joe Rogan and Adam Alter, Joe Rogan Experience #1564 - Adam Alter explores how Screens Hijack Our Brains: Addiction, VR, and Our Future Joe Rogan and psychologist/author Adam Alter explore how modern technology, especially smartphones, social media, and video games, are engineered to capture and hold human attention. They discuss psychological mechanisms like “stopping cues,” variable rewards, and goal-completion drives that make experiences such as Flappy Bird, World of Warcraft, and social feeds so hard to quit. The conversation balances clear benefits of tech—remote work, fitness tech, VR exercise, global connection—against serious downsides including addiction, lost time, social isolation, and mental health harms, particularly for children and teens. Both conclude there is no simple fix at the company or government level, so individuals and parents must consciously design boundaries and habits around screens while society slowly adapts.

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