Search results for ""Author Paul Bloom""

“This book will challenge you to rethink your vision of a good life. With sharp insights and lucid prose, Paul Bloom makes a captivating case that pain and suffering are essential to happiness. It’s an exhilarating antidote to toxic positivity.” —Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and host of the TED podcast WorkLifeOne of Behavioral Scientist''s Notable Books of 2021From the author of Against Empathy, a different kind of happiness book, one that shows us how suffering is an essential source of both pleasure and meaning in our livesWhy do we so often seek out physical pain and emotional turmoil? We go to movies that make us cry, or scream, or gag. We poke at sores, eat spicy foods, immerse ourselves in hot baths, run marathons. Some of us even seek ou

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Paul Bloom is Professor of Psychology at University of Toronto and the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Yale University. His research explores the psychology of morality, identity and pleasure. Bloom is the recipient of multiple awards and honours, including most recently the million-dollar Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize. He has written for scientific journals such as Nature and Science, and for the New York Times, New Yorker, Atlantic and Guardian. He is the author or editor of eight books, including Just Babies, How Pleasure Works, Descartes' Baby, Against Empathy and most recently The Sweet Spot.

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Pleasure is one of the most fascinating aspects of being human. But what is it?Exploring child development, philosophy, neuroscience and behavioural economics, Paul Bloom uncovers how universal habits explain what we like and why we like it.The average Briton spends over a day a week watching television. People slow their cars to look at gory accidents and go to sentimental movies that make them cry. Some men pay good money to be spanked by prostitutes.In this revealing and witty account, Paul Bloom examines the science behind these curious desires, attractions and tastes, exploring one of the most fascinating and fundamental engines of human behaviour.‘How Pleasure Works has one of the best discussions I've read of why art is pleasurable, why it matters to us, and why it moves us so’ Daniel Levitin, author of This Is Your Brain on Music

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Are you a human? Do you have a mind? Then this book is for you.'Like having the mind's complexities untangled by a witty, eloquent and deeply knowledgeable friend' OLIVER BURKEMAN 'Really wonderful, hugely readable ... loving it' DERREN BROWNNothing is more familiar and yet less understood than the human mind. It defines the experience of being human, and yet its workings contain some of the deepest mysteries ever encountered. Written by one of the world's greatest teachers of psychology, The Human Mind provides a masterful and riveting guide to all that we have learned since modern science began probing those mysteries.How does a three-pound lump of grey-ish meat give rise to conscious experience?What is the function of emotions such as disgust, gratitude and shame?How do our biases affect us and how can we overcome them?How does the mind of a child differ from that of an adult?How does memory work? What causes mental illness?Are we rational? Are we all a little bit racist?What makes us kind? What makes us cruel?What makes us happy?Many of these questions now have answers; many others don't yet; many widely accepted theories are probably wrong. This book takes us to the very limits of what is known. It shines new light on all that you take most for granted: everything you think and feel, everything you say and do, everything that makes you you.'The story of the human mind as told by psychology's best story-teller' DANIEL GILBERT

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In a divided world, empathy is not the solution, it is the problem. We think of empathy – the ability to feel the suffering of others for ourselves – as the ultimate source of all good behaviour. But while it inspires care and protection in personal relationships, it has the opposite effect in the wider world. As the latest research in psychology and neuroscience shows, we feel empathy most for those we find attractive and who seem similar to us and not at all for those who are different, distant or anonymous. Empathy therefore biases us in favour of individuals we know while numbing us to the plight of thousands. Guiding us expertly through the experiments, case studies and arguments on all sides, Paul Bloom ultimately shows that some of our worst decisions – in charity, child-raising, criminal justice, climate change and war – are motivated by this wolf in sheep's clothing.Brilliantly argued, urgent and humane, Against Empathy overturns widely held assumptions to reveal one of the most profound yet overlooked sources of human conflict.

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What if experiencing a good life involves more than just pleasure?Revealing the surprising roots of lasting happiness, pre-eminent psychologist Paul Bloom explains why suffering is an essential source of both pleasure and meaning in our lives.It seems obvious that pleasure leads to happiness - and pain does the opposite. And yet we are irresistibly drawn to a host of experiences that truly hurt, from the exhilarating fear of horror movies or extreme sport to the gruelling challenges of exercise, work, creativity and having a family.Drawing on ground-breaking findings, pre-eminent psychologist Paul Bloom explores the pleasures of suffering and reveals why the activities that provide the most satisfaction are often the ones that involve the greatest sacrifice. Embracing this truth, he shows, is the key to a life well lived.'Paul Bloom can always be counted on to take your confident assumptions about humanity and turn them upside down' Susan Cain, author of Quiet'An exhilarating antidote to toxic positivity, this captivating book will challenge you to rethink your vision of a good life' Adam Grant, author of Think Again

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Wir haben Lust auf etwas, Spaß an etwas, finden bestimmte Dinge in höchstem Maße vergnüglich. Aber Vergnügen ist alles andere als ein einfaches Phänomen. Unsere Bedürfnisse, Wünsche, Vorlieben gehen über die Symmetrie eines hübschen Gesichts, über zucker- und fettreiche Nahrung oder über die Schönheit eines Gemäldes hinaus. In Sex und Kunst und Schokolade erklärt der Psychologieprofessor Paul Bloom, wie Vergnügen beim Menschen eigentlich funktioniert, und berichtet von den erstaunlichen Untersuchungen zu diesem Thema.

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