Designed To Stick

Cellphones are not only addictive, they are designed that way.

Behind every app are teams of behavioral experts and PhDs whose job is to keep us hooked.

Every ping, swipe, and notification is engineered to capture our attention — and keep it.

They’ve spent a great deal studying the reward loops, variable reinforcement, and friction removal. Then they build it in.

So, we aren’t weak.

We’re responding exactly as a human brain does inside a system optimized for it.

Thanks for reading! The journal prompt of today:

Please let me know in the comments.

Curious to see more reflections like this? Click through to see the rest of the series on emotional competency. I’d love to hear what resonates with you.