Dr. Carl Erik Fisher

Yeah, so I would say it is a yes or no question.

And some people feel very strongly yes.

And some people feel very strongly no.

And that's a problem.

For a long time, we've been working with these sort of messy, conflictual, outdated theories and definitions of addiction.

And that really comes to the fore in something as complicated and multifactorial as social media problems or internet problems.

After a quick break.

Yeah, so I would say it is a yes or no question.

And some people feel very strongly yes, and some people feel very strongly no.

And that's a problem.

And for me, as someone who looks at the field overall, it's interesting because it really just mirrors a bigger problem.

in the field of addiction.

For a long time, we've been working with these sort of messy, conflictual, outdated theories and definitions of addiction.

And that really comes to the fore in something as complicated and multifactorial as social media problems or internet problems in general.

So I am trying to dodge your question the way you maybe anticipated it.

Yeah.

Well, it really does depend on what you mean by addiction and what you mean by addictive.

And one of my big concerns regarding drugs, regarding other types of behavioral problems, is that we focus too much on the supposed addictiveness of a substance or a stimulus out there as if it's a demon.

that comes in and addicts us.

So I have a natural aversion to resorting to that kind of like addictive language.