Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychological Experiments of the Twentieth Century Highlight

Alexander’s research suggests that addictions are in fact quite subject to free will. Rats and humans pick up the proverbial pipe and then put it back down, no problem. And when they don’t put it back down, it’s not because there’s something inherently irresistible about the substance, but because the particular set of circumstances the mammal finds itself in offers no better alternatives than such destructive snacking. Addiction in Alexander’s world is a life-style strategy, and like all human-constructed strategies, it’s malleable to education, diversion, opportunity. It’s a choice.