Showing results by author "Paul Bloom" in All Categories

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.

Most people, including many policy makers, activists, scientists, and philosophers, have encouraged us to be more empathetic - to feel the pain and pleasure of others. Yale researcher and author Paul Bloom argues that this is a mistake. Far from leading us to improve the lives of others, empathy is a capricious and irrational emotion that appeals to our narrow prejudices. It muddles our judgment and often leads to cruelty. We are at our best when we are smart enough not to rely on it and draw upon a more distanced compassion.

Nothing 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.

Why 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 out pain and humiliation in sexual role-play. Where do these seemingly perverse appetites come from? Drawing on groundbreaking findings from psychology and brain science, The Sweet Spot shows how the right kind of suffering sets the stage for enhanced pleasure.

A leading cognitive scientist argues that a deep sense of good and evil is bred in the bone. From John Locke to Sigmund Freud, philosophers and psychologists have long believed that we begin life as blank moral slates.

How does the brain—a three-pound wrinkly mass—give rise to intelligence and conscious experience? Was Freud right that we are all plagued by forbidden sexual desires? What is the function of emotions such as disgust, gratitude, and shame? Renowned psychologist Paul Bloom answers these questions and many more in Psych, his riveting new book about the science of the mind.

In this excerpt from In Bed with Susie Bright, Susie interviews Yale psychologist Paul Bloom about his fascinating best-selling book How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like. Paul and Susie talk about the pleasures of sex and how we perceive them.

Do you suffer from stress, phobias or anxiety? Are you looking for a natural solution? EFT, or Emotional Freedom Technique, is a holistic therapy that you can do anywhere and at any time, by yourself.

Our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are all connected. When we get stuck in our thoughts, this can impact our feelings and emotions negatively. A downward spiral of anxiety, panic attacks, and depression can follow. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety offers proven strategies and techniques for anyone suffers with anxiety, panic attacks or compulsive disorders to break free by rewiring your brain.

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 wrenching sadness of a song or novel, to the gruelling challenges of exercise, work, creativity and having a family. In The Sweet Spot, pre-eminent psychologist Paul Bloom explores the pleasures of suffering and explains why the activities that provide most satisfaction are often the ones that involve greatest sacrifice.

De gedachte aan seks met een maagd is zeer opwindend voor veel mannen. We kiezen ervoor om gemiddeld vier uur per dag voor de televisie te zitten. Onze kinderen spelen met denkbeeldige vrienden. We gaan langzamer rijden om gruwelijke ongelukken beter te bekijken en gaan naar films die ons aan het huilen maken. De manieren waarop we ‘genieten’ zijn even bizar als uiteenlopend.