The Age of Addiction

April 8, 2019
Historian Courtwright (Forces of Habit) offers a sweeping, ambitious account of the evolution of addiction: rooted in humans’ natural instinct to seek pleasure, helped along by scientific breakthroughs and the development of state power and the global economy, and continually reinforced by the efforts of entrepreneurs and advertisers. The author terms this limbic capitalism, “a technologically advanced but socially regressive business system in which global industries... encourage excessive consumption and addiction the part of the brain responsible for feeling and quick reaction.” Courtwright begins by considering the pursuit of pleasure in the form of “food-drugs” (such as alcohol, tobacco, and opium) and enthralling games such as chess, furthered by globalization, industrialization, and urbanization in the 18th century. In the modern era, affordability, advertising, and anomie promoted addiction to a variety of substances and commodities so that, by the new millennium, “multinational distribution and marketing machines had built a scaffolding of persuasion... around a range of products that carried a serious risk of habituation and harm.” Courtwright considers the contemporary debates about digital addiction, and concludes by reminding the reader of the benefits of moderation in all things, including public health policy. This bold, thought-provoking synthesis will appeal to fans of “big history” in the tradition of Guns, Germs, and Steel.