Skip to content

Partner Event: My phone, my phone, my irresistible phone

    Apr 20, 2017 from 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm

    Aula, Singel 411, Amsterdam

    Price: JAI Members €13,- | Non Members €19,- | Students €15,-

    Event details: www.john-adams.nl/adam-alter/

     

    We spend more time communicating through our smartphones than we spend talking to our partner. New technology has nestled itself in our pockets, our lives, our habits, our dealings with each other and the rest of the world. The John Adams is proud to announce a new event in our Technology series, with Adam Alter, the social psychologist and New York Times bestselling author of the book Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked (translated by Maven Publishing as Superverslavend.) Alter teaches at New York University’s Stern School of Business. Our addiction to smartphones, games, apps and social media is not just a sign of our own weakness: these products are actually designed to get us hooked. In Irresistible he exposes the techniques tech companies use to make their products more and more attractive… even irresistible. His observations on this so-called ‘behavioral shaping’ are gaining more prevalence as our culture becomes increasingly reliant on technology. According to Malcolm Gladwell, he provides ‘a fascinating and much needed exploration of one of the most troubling phenomena of modern times’.

     

    The Dutch journalist at NRC Handelsblad Wouter van Noort, whose book on our relationship to technology Is daar iemand? is appearing (in Dutch) that same week, will read a personal column about his quest into his obsession with technology – and addiction.

     

    DISCUSSION PANEL

    Adam Alter will then be joined by Jan Willem Huisman, director of gaming company IJsfontein, and by Marleen Stikker, former ”mayor” of De Digitale Stad and founder of the Waag Society, in a discussion moderated by Eva de Valk, who writes for NRC Handelsblad about technology. She lived in and reported on Silicon Valley for two years.

    Moderator: Eva de Valk (NRC) In collaboration with: Maven Publishing