How Pleasure Works

The New Science of Why We Like What We Like

By: Paul Bloom

Narrated by: Jeremy Johnson

Length: 7 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Yale psychologist Paul Bloom presents a striking new vision of the pleasures of everyday life. The thought of sex with a virgin is intensely arousing for many men. The average American spends over four hours a day watching television. Abstract art can sell for millions of dollars. 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 movies that make them cry.

In this fascinating 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 behavioral economics, How Pleasure Works shows how certain universal habits of the human mind explain what we like and why we like it.

Listen to our Free Interview: Susie Bright Speaks with Paul Bloom, Author of How Pleasure Works.

©2010 Paul Bloom (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Not convincing or complete.

I felt the examples and arguments were weak. Many were tantamount to guesses. The discussion on the value of virginity was inadequate and subjective as an example.

Easy to understand, well read.

Though most of the content isn't new for those exposed to the recent wave of mass market books on cognitive neuroscience, this is the clearest and easiest to understand. Bloom did a terrific job organizing the material and illustrating concepts with good examples. All in all, this is very accessible to the average reader.
Johnson's narration is well-paced and enjoyable.
The credits listed were many, but that's the way it is for academics -- everyone involved in the research deserves acknowledgment. Bloom is essentially a primary source for much of the material, so this understandable.

Watched Paul Bloom Recently on TED Talks

I watched Paul Bloom recently on TED Talks and ironically I was in the middle of reading his book, How Pleasure Works. In this TED Talk he touched on many of the same points he covers in the book, with the same penchant for honest scientific assessment and interesting anecdotes.

Bloom advances the idea that essences drive much of human motivation and pleasure. For those science readers on guard for more pseudo-science (for example anything by Jenny McCarthy), Bloom does not imbue the natural world with actual essences but rather claims that humans do imbue natural and artificial things with essences and discusses the natural reasons these tendencies may form.

Overall it is an excellent read by an excellent author and well worth an Audile credit.

Captivating and FUNNY

Some of the content is rated R.
But otherwise it was AWESOME !!
Highly recommended

awesome book

I feel that Paul Bloom did an awesome job with explaining simple and extreme pleasures within the human psyche.

Probably better read than listened to.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not great. Narration was bland. Info was at times repetitive. I agree with the reviewers that note the topic is more about essentialism than pleasure.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Ok. I definitely left the book more informed than I was before reading.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

bland

every addict should listen to this audio

the science that was presented was weaved together so well. it gave me a much better understanding of addiction and how to escape it on all levels. mine addiction is sugar which is very much a drug. when you understand what's going on in the brain and the chemistry behind it it gives you power over it. cheers to the author and narrator.

Disappointing...

Would you try another book from Paul Bloom and/or Jeremy Johnson?

Paul Bloom, No
Jeremy Johnson, Perhaps

What could Paul Bloom have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Bloom would have had to eliminate many assumptions and significantly dropped continuous Bible references for me to consider this an informative article.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I was entertained by this book for the first two hours. Although it was not what I had hoped, it touched on a variety of topics that could have been thoroughly examined objectively.

Any additional comments?

I call this book "disappointing" because I expected objectivity based on the credentials of the author. I did not expect each example to lead into a persuasive argument substantiated by Bible verses.

Silly Pop Psychology

I had high hopes for this book, but I was greatly disappointed. The author adopts a gimmick based on an extended metaphor of "essentialism" that forces the subject manner into a convoluted discussion that distorts the science of developmental psychology.

Dull beyond compare

The only pleasure I discovered after listening to a few agonizing chapters from this book was the joy of hitting the off button on my Ipod. Extremely disappointing to me, perhaps insightful to some.