“… what if addiction isn’t about your chemical hooks? What if addiction is about your cage? What if addiction is an adaptation to your environment?”
The TED-talk editors write:
“What really causes addiction – to everything from cocaine to smart-phones? And how can we overcome it? Johann Hari has seen our current methods fail first-hand, as he has watched loved ones struggle to manage their addictions. He started to wonder why we treat addicts the way we do – and if there might be a better way.
As he shares in this deeply personal talk, his questions took him around the world, and unearthed some surprising and hopeful ways of thinking about an age-old problem.”
Amongst other things, he cites Prof. Bruce Alexander, who argues that that addiction is not about chemical hooks, but is instead about the ‘cage’ you live in – i.e. an adaptation to your environment.
Here’s the 15 minute video of his talk:
