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"I think having a "Food and Drug administration’ for technology would be great. And one of the other ones that people bring up is this idea of the Hippocratic Oath, which suggests that if you're in the medical field, you're supposed to above all else, do no harm. That's your kind of guiding light, and it's a really useful, basic philosophical idea to use as your guide when you make decisions because it forces you to do this kind of pros and cons analysis with everything you're doing.

There is no Hippocratic Oath for tech, but it's a great idea, right? If Facebook says, 'We're going to introduce the like button, what's the worst that can happen?' Turns out some pretty bad stuff can happen. But if you don't ask that question, you just don't turn your mind to those questions - or maybe you aren't forced to, maybe you know that they're there, but you just don't really look at the sun because the potential negatives are kind of overwhelming. So I agree, some oversight would be great. And that's why a lot of people think government legislation is critical with respect to technology because we can't just rely on consumers to empower themselves when everything is being done to undermine that power, and the government might need to get involved in some form."

Adam Alter is a Professor of Marketing at NYU’s Stern School of Business and the Robert Stansky Teaching Excellence Faculty Fellow. Adam is the New York Times bestselling author of Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked, and Drunk Tank Pink, which investigates how hidden forces in the world around us shape our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. He has written for the New York Times, New Yorker, The Atlantic, Washington Post, and a host of TV, radio, and publications. His next book Anatomy of a Breakthrough will be published in 2023.

https://adamalterauthor.com
www.penguin.co.uk/books/431386/irresistible-by-adam-alter/9781784701659
www.simonandschuster.com/books/Anatomy-of-a-Breakthrough/Adam-Alter/9781982182960
www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/adam-alter

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