If not addiction, then what?
 

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck!! :)

"...when a response is reinforced randomly, making us persist irrationally while awaiting the reward"

I think this is what I was trying to describe over on Haennie's thread last week... was fumbling around trying to articulate this idea. It seems that the "discovery" aspect and that there's just an endless supply of discovery online... that's what is so addictive, from my perspective anyway.

Yes, seemingly easy discovery is one. The problem is just that this type of "discovery" does not allow real experiments to test what we find.

Another equally big factor, in my view, is the interpersonal connection. Again, so easy... just what we are doing here and now. Addictive, and a little unusual (relative to traditional before 1989), just like the preference of those who like to be seduced by a dominatrix. OK, who dares to define "traditional" and "unusual" nowadays?

"Does your tech habit cause you to neglect other responsibilities, such as people, getting homework done, bathing?"
Yes. This is my main problem with it.

"Do you get angry, depressed, or suffer withdrawal when someone takes it away from you?"
Yes. Even recently when I'm trying follow through my own plan of moderation.

"Do you lie to family, friends and employers, take sick days, miss sleep or skip classes for a tech hit, or to cover the effects of binge use?"
No, not me, but I know people who do.

What's the diagnosis?