Book description
In How Pleasure Works, the internationally acclaimed
psychologist Paul Bloom explores one of the most fascinating and
fundamental engines of human behaviour.
We are natural-born essentialists - when it comes to pleasure,
nothing is ever merely skin-deep. We are attracted, whether we know it
or not, to the hidden aspects of things and people. Some teenagers
enjoy cutting themselves with razors; some men pay good money to be
spanked by prostitutes. The average Briton spends over a day a week
watching television. The thought of sex with a virgin is intensely
arousing to many men. Artwork can sell for millions of pounds. Food
and alcohol are so compelling that they can come to dominate one's
life. Young children enjoy playing with imaginary friends and can be
comforted by security blankets. People slow their cars to look at gory
accidents and go to sentimental movies that make them cry.
In this revealing and witty account, Paul Bloom examines the science
behind these curious desires, attractions and tastes, covering
everything from the animal instincts of sex and food to the uniquely
human taste for art, music and stories. Drawing on insights from child
development, philosophy, neuroscience and behavioural economics,
How Pleasure Works shows how certain universal habits of the
human mind explain what we like and why we like it.
Paul Bloom is a Professor of Psychology at Yale University. His
research explores how children and adults understand the physical and
social world, with special focus on morality, religion, fiction, and
art. He has won numerous awards for his research and teaching. He is
past-president of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology, and
co-editor of
Behavioural and Brain
. Bloom has written for scientific journals such as
Nature
and
Science
, and for popular outlets such as
The New York Times
, the
Guardian
, and the
Atlantic
. He is the author or editor of four books, including
How Children
Learn the Meanings of Words
, and, most recently,
Descartes' Baby: How the Science of Child
Development Explains What Makes Us Human
.
