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

Bloom, Paul

 
9781847921437: How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 1847921434 ISBN 13: 9781847921437
Publisher: The Bodley Head Ltd, 2010

Synopsis

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.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

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.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
The Bodley Head Ltd
Publication date
2010
Language
English
ISBN 10 
1847921434
ISBN 13 
9781847921437
Binding
Hardcover
Number of pages
304

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780393340006: How Pleasure Works – The New Science of Why We Like What We Like

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0393340007 ISBN 13:  9780393340006
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2011
Softcover