Is IT or Technology addictive ?? 1

[guestgulkan]

Probably a bit off topic - not really about Ethics, but I pose the question -
Is IT or Technology addictive ??
By this I mean, do you think it possible for a person to
come to depend on a peice of technology so much that it could be said that they have become an addict in the generally accepted sense of the word??

For example - take the moble phone.
I know people who have become attached to this item so much, that they feel depressed/anxious if they don't get a call or SMS text every minute.
Surely they can be considered as having a 'dependency' problem?

 

[dgillz]

I know a little bit about addiction, and it does not fit.

An addiction carries real, physiological consequences such as withdrawal symptoms, DTs, etc. That will never happen with technology.

I think use if technology fits into the obsessive/compulsive behavior pattern, not addiction.

Software Sales, Training, Implementation and Support for Exact Macola, eSynergy, and Crystal Reports

http://www.trianglepartners.com

dgilsdorf@trianglepartners.com

 

[manarth]

hello everyone, my name's Marc, and I'm addicted to Tek-Tips

 

[EricDraven]

What about computer games? I know of many people who have become dependant on computer games to the point that they have even been depressed and wondering what to do next when they have completed the game!

Computer games release the bodys natural chemicals into the bloodstream in a simliar way to gambling which is also an addiction. Computer games = technology, so the answer should be yes, technology is addictive to some people.

On another note, somebody I work with spends all day sat in front of his PC writing software, and then goes home to boot up his personal PC and surfs the Net until the small hours! Is he addicted, or does he just enjoy using the technology available?

Arte Et Labore

 

[skiflyer]

As far as games I totally agree, they can be addictive, especially look at cases of online roleplaying games with no end... anedoctally speaking I've heard several horror stories of lost families and loves related to people spending too much time in the virtual world... statistically I can't back that up though. It should be kept in mind though, games in general, role playing games in specific have gotten this criticism long before computers came about, it's just easier when a game is always available.

As to the last example, that's always a funny one... I think lots of people are like that, myself included once in awhile. I don't think that goes into the realm of addiction however, I know there are very clear ways to delineate addiction and non, and perhaps someone more skilled can contribute, but as far as the amateurs definition of addiction, I think one simple question is often useful in determining...

1) Am I neglecting someone/thing else because of this activity


So if he genuinelly enjoys it, but still remembers to feed the dog and go to work and pay the bills, more power to him. If he no longer engages in other social activities and has abandoned all his friends, maybe a more serious issue.

-Rob

 

[mudskipper]

Couple of thoughts:

1) I knew a tech (if you could call him that), who was ALWAYS toasting components. Was he addicted to technology, or to smoking? Arg Arg!!! I wonder if he ever quit the habit....probably used a "burning electronics patch"....

2) Probably, technology itself isn't so harmful. Unfortunately, for many, it is a "gateway" drug. See, you just work IT once in a while. Pretty soon, you are doing it more and more, until it is just not providing the satisfaction that it once did. Soon, many people in IT turn to alcohol just to feel "normal" again. Until we learn how to cope with technology (and technology users), we are likely to see this problem grow--and at some point, it will have to be dealt with.

Now....time for a smoke break....

Mudskipper
-----------------
Groucho said it best- "A four year-old child could understand this!
Quick! Run out and find me a four year-old child: I can't make heads nor tails out of this!"

 

[Kjonnnn]

I think IT is a tool. And people get "addicted" to using this tool to further indulge in their main addictions (sex, shopping, gaming, etc.)

 

[petermeachem]

I'm pretty sure games are addictive. My son (13), gets very twitchy if he can't get his daily fix, although strangely he was fine when we had a weeks holiday in Portugal just recently. I'm also fairly sure that mobiles are addictive (UK). People get very possessive about them in general and particularly with texting.
I've had one bad experience with games. When Doom came out, my wife and I shoved the children in bed and spent every evening on it for weeks. The garden went to rack and ruin. Haven't played a game since.

http://www.therockalltimes.co.uk

http://www.robotwisdom.com/

 

[spewn]

"hello marc"

- g

 

[xutopia]

peter,

Getting your kids to travel like that is a great thing for them. Hopefully the recession won't stop you and others from travelling!

All,

Unfortunalty I don't think that IT can be defined as addictive. We are dependant on it just like we are dependant on electricity in our society.

Some people like games, internet or tek-tips a lot and spend a lot of time on it. Take that away from them and give them something else that is just as fun and surely they would spend a lot of time elsewhere. Most people that spend too much time on one thing are unbalanced and in some way attempt to answer a desire they can't seem to fullfil in other ways.

I know when I am away from my computer for three to five days because I'm travelling I need to get myself a good book so I do something with my brain. It's an adjustement from being completely connected all the time but it certainly doesn't feel at all like what I feel since I quit smoking.

Gary

http://www.xutopia.com

Haran
==========================

 

[palbano]

Not addictive. Some people exhibit addictive behavior due to their personality but that does not mean they are addicted according to the clinical definition.

Gary
Let me know if you start smoldering again, I keep a fire extinguisher handy for emergencies


-pete
_{I just can't seem to get back my IntelliSense}

 

[psemianonymous]

About addiction: yes.


For many, computer games are just a diversion, like TV or a book. For some, computer games are definitely addictions.

I've been bothered in recent years by the advent of MMORPGs, which are designed to supplant all your free time. Check this person's survey on Everquest:

http://www.nickyee.com/eqt/demographics.html#6

It says that the median time spent on Everquest is something like 20 hours a week (meaning more than 50% spend MORE than 20 hours) and the top few percent spend well over 40 hours.


As for my own addictions, I have only one word: Threadminder.

 

[dgillz]

Addiction means that the person that "quits" the activity suffers physiological withdrawal symptoms such as craving, seizures, halluconations, delerium tremens, etc.

There is NO technological device or activity that produces these symptoms, period.

Computer games, like gambling, sex, etc, are obsessive/compulsive disorders, not addictions. Those that refer to this as an addiction are misinformed.

The previous offered definitions of addiction as "something that disrupts your life" are incorrect.

This is not meant to downplay the effects of obsessive/compulsive behaviour, but in the strict clinical terminology, it is NOT addictive.

Software Sales, Training, Implementation and Support for Exact Macola, eSynergy, and Crystal Reports

http://www.trianglepartners.com

dgilsdorf@trianglepartners.com

 

[sleipnir214]

dgillz:
You speak authoritatively. Your credentials?

Want the best answers? Ask the best questions:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

TANSTAAFL!

 

[skiflyer]

dgillz:

Where is the term addiction defined so clearly that you can speak so definitively?

I urge caution when speaking about terms in general, and especially when speaking about ailments... being overly confident on your opinion of an openly debated definition is often a) useless b) incorrect c) offensive.

Terms such as psychological dependance, physiological dependance, physical withdrawal, emotional need (and many others I'm sure) are quite often used as synonyms for addiction, and I personally don't think this is always incorrect.


-Rob

 

[Provogeek]

Great topic guestgulkan
Some food for thought for all

http://webster.directhit.com/webster/search.aspx?qry=Internet+Addiction&meta=rs

Main Entry: ad·dic·tion
Pronunciation: &-'dik-sh&n, a-
Function: noun
1 : the quality or state of being addicted <addiction to reading>
2 : compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly : persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful

Main Entry: 1ad·dict
Pronunciation: &-'dikt
Function: transitive verb
1 : to devote or surrender (oneself) to something habitually or obsessively <addicted to gambling>
2 : to cause addiction to a substance in

Is technology addictive? Depends on your view of it. physical, no it is not, BUT it can be viewd as mentaly addictive and the mind is capable of doing strange things to ones body. So a mentaly addictive activity can produce physical symptoms if a persons mind causes it to.



Brent Schmidt CNE,Network +

 

[EdwardMartinIII]

Whether or not IT/Technology can or cannot be addictive according to the strict clinical definition is irrelevant (consider tens units, or a pacemaker, the withdrawal of which could prove physically debilitating in the extreme! Consider also compulsive gambling, which practically everyone considers addictive, yet has no physiological effects whatsoever, except &quot;slots-wrist&quot;, which is a very real-sounding yet fictitious ailment).

guestgulkan, please correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems as if you could easily answer this question by looking up any number of authoritative references regarding physical addiction. When I read it, I read it as if you're asking if the hunger for the latest tech, the passion with which people gobble up the latest piece of beep-beep-beep is close enough in nature to better-funded addictions (such as alcohol, tobacco, and E. R. Burroughs' well-documented &quot;Mad Virginian Combat Haze&quot.

My assumption is, of course, based on the theory that no one asks questions that are easy to answer (for example, &quot;How do you spell BMW?&quot, else they wouldn't ask the questions!

I have seen people act in such a way toward technology and technological whangdoodles that mimics very closely more urbane addictions. How many cigarettes does a person smoke? How many times do you check e-mail per day? What happens when you don't get yours?

The confounding issue is that the sort of people I know who pay for their subscription to NASA Tech Review to get their issues First Class often take a sort of pride that they exhibit the symptoms of an obsessive-compulsive, or a person who is addicted.

That, of course, addresses the psychology of addiction. Are you addicted if you want to be addicted? If you make your life and the lives of people around you miserable (some would consider this a real physiological effect) because you've been offline for two weeks and then when you get back online, you disappear in a pixie sprinkle of phosphorescent opiate, what's the practical difference between an actual physical addition and a desperate need to be addicted as a point of pride?

As far as the principal question goes, if an individual not only wants to be considered addicted to technology in one form or another, but takes pride in it, who am I to knock the hot dog off their grill?

Do I personally consider it addictive? Well, seeing as how people can get over being on smack, then it all becomes a matter of how-long-to-get-over-it, doesn't it? I mean, you can get over using smack (really, all it takes is a single shot and you will not suffer any physiological effects of withdrawal, which means that either smack is not actually addictive, or that psychological addiction actually has some weight in the matter), just like you can get over not checking your e-mail, just like you can get over missing last night's episode of &quot;Enterprise&quot; (which was, regrettably, missable). The varying factor here might simply be the severity of withdrawal symptoms.

Seeing as how I am in no position to decide for anyone else whether or not their symptoms qualify as severe enough to be called &quot;real&quot;, I'll leave it up to the individual to self-identify.

So, if people are desperate to claim they're addicted, great. Good for them. I, personally, think the only things I can be &quot;addicted&quot; to is air, water, food, and a more-or-less regular heartbeat.

Could I obfuscate it any further?

Cheers,


Edward

&quot;Cut a hole in the door. Hang a flap. Criminy, why didn't I think of this earlier?!&quot; -- inventor of the cat door

 

[greyted]

skyflier,
You are correct to urge caution when defining the terms that apply to addictive.

sleipnir214,
Found the following on an U.K. Government site, a very interesting read on this subject.

http://www.strategy.gov.uk/2001/futures/attachments/ab/ab_paper.pdf

Ted


I have eaten humble pie.

 

[ANFPS26]

I can't say that IT in general is addictive, but I know that Tek-Tips sure is. I've logged in more than 8700 times!

Jim

 

[KornGeek]

In a row?!?!

(Sorry, bad Clerks reference.)