How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like

Paul Bloom

ISBN 10: 1847921434 / ISBN 13: 9781847921437

Published by Vintage Publishing, 2010

About this Item

Paul Bloom, Vintage Publishing. 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, neur.

Seller Inventory # 9781847921437-SECONDHAND

Bibliographic Details

• Title: How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like
• Publisher: Vintage Publishing
• Publication Date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1847921434
• ISBN 13: 9781847921437
• Binding: Hardback
• Book Type: Hardback

About this title

Synopsis

"How Pleasure Works" is a great read. The author skillfully draws you in to each topic with examples like Hitler's sweater and then describes relevant research that sheds light on why we like what we like. Unlike many such books, he does not get bogged down in details of experiments. Neither does the author talk down to the reader: He is congenial but not overly jokey. The pages seem to turn themselves. At the end, the reader comes away with a greater appreciation for how complex our likes and dislikes are. However, many of the best examples (like incest and cannibalism) focus on what we DON'T like. The book's success can perhaps best be summed up by the fact that even when you are being disgusted by such examples, you still get pleasure from reading about them.

From the Back Cover

“This book is not just a pleasure, but a revelation, by one of psychology’s deepest thinkers and best writers. Lucid and fascinating, you’ll want to read it slowly and savor the experience.”―Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness

“Following the path of pleasure, Bloom leads us through a menagerie of human strangeness. By the end of the trip, the ‘magic inside us’ begins to make sense. This book is a pearl, a work of great beauty and value, built up around a simple truth: that we are essentialists, tuned-in to unseen order.”―Jonathan Haidt, author of The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom

“Paul Bloom is among the deepest thinkers and clearest writers in the science of mind today. He has a knack for coming up with genuinely new insights about mental life―ones that you haven’t already read about or thought of―and making them seem second nature through vivid examples and lucid explanations.”―Steven Pinker, author of How the Mind Works

“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: The Science of a Human Obsession

“In this eloquent and provocative book, Paul Bloom takes us inside the paradoxes of pleasure, exploring everything from cannibalism to Picasso to IKEA furniture. The quirks of delight, it turns out, are a delightful way to learn about the human mind.”―Jonah Lehrer, author of How We Decide