Episode 12: It's Not An Addiction with Nir Eyal
On this episode of Look Up! I interviewed Nir Eyal. Nir writes, consults, and teaches about the intersection of psychology, technology, and business. He is an entrepreneur and investor who has started two companies and invested in many more including Eventbrite, Refresh.io, and Anchor.FM.
He’s the author of bestselling book Hooked: How to Build Habit Forming Products and more recently Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life. Nir has also taught at his alma mater, the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
This was a great conversation, because Nir challenges some of the ideas that I held before we met. His goal is to put the power back into the hands of the individual. We dive deep into what constitutes addiction vs. habit forming behavior. We also discuss learned helplessness and the steps we can take to take to regain control of our attention. For those of us who feel hopelessly addicted to technology, this episode can offer some guidance on how to start breaking bad habits.
I also learned that an old study claiming will power is a finite resource was actually debunked and that it will power is only a finite resource for those who believe it to be.
Important Show Links:
Nir’s Website: https://www.nirandfar.com/
Hooked: https://www.nirandfar.com/hooked/
Indistractable: https://www.nirandfar.com/indistractable/
Will Power is Not A Finite Resource: https://hbr.org/2016/11/have-we-been-thinking-about-willpower-the-wrong-way-for-30-years
