Summary/Abstract

British journalist Johann Hari's TED Talk on "Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong" questions our current understanding and treatment of addiction and suggests social alienation is a critical component in drug abuse.

Content

What really causes addiction — to everything from cocaine to smart-phones? And how can we overcome it Johann Hari has seen our current methods fail firsthand, as he has watched loved ones struggle to manage their addictions. He started to wonder why we treat addicts the way we do — and if there might be a better way. As he shares in this deeply personal talk, his questions took him around the world, and unearthed some surprising and hopeful ways of thinking about an age-old problem.

British journalist Johann Hari has written for many of the world’s leading newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times Le Monde  the Nation , and the Sydney Morning Herald. He was a columnist for the British newspaper the Independent for nine years.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Johann now lives in London. He graduated from King’s College, Cambridge, with a double first in social and political sciences in 2001.

Johann was twice named "National Newspaper Journalist of the Year" by Amnesty International, was named "Gay Journalist of the Year" at the Stonewall awards and he has also won the Martha Gellhorn Prize for political writing. For his book, Chasing the Scream, he spent three years researching the war on drugs and questioning the ways in which we treat addiction.