Alan J. Reid – författare

This book uses a philosophy of technology to demonstrate that guns are predisposed for an intentional use, making them inherently non-neutral artifacts. This argument rejects the often-cited value neutral thesis and instrumentalist view that “guns don’t kill people; people kill people”, and instead, explains the lethality of the gun through the lenses of affordance theory, behavioral design, and choice architecture. Ultimately, this book proposes an ethical and value-sensitive model for gun reform, which embodies the perspective of French philosopher Bruno Latour, who said, “You are different with a gun in your hand; the gun is different with you holding it.”

The Smartphone Paradox is a critical examination of our everyday mobile technologies and the effects that they have on our thoughts and behaviors. Alan J. Reid presents a comprehensive view of smartphones: the research behind the uses and gratifications of smartphones, the obstacles they present, the opportunities they afford, and how everyone can achieve a healthy, technological balance. It includes interviews with smartphone users from a variety of backgrounds, and translates scholarly research into a conversational tone, making it easy to understand a synthesis of key findings and conclusions from a heavily-researched domain. All in all, through the lens of smartphone dependency, the book makes the argument for digital mindfulness in a device age that threatens our privacy, sociability, attention, and cognitive abilities.