How Pleasure Works

Why We Like What We Like

By: Paul Bloom

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Paperback | 2 June 2011 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
304 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
19.6 x 13.1 x 2.1

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The internationally acclaimed psychologist Paul Bloom explores one of the most fascinating and fundamental engines of human behaviour - the new science of why we like what we like

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. 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, exploring one of the most fascinating and fundamental engines of human behaviour. 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.

About the Author

Paul Bloom is Professor of Psychology at Yale, and is an internationally recognised expert on language and child development. His book HOW CHILDREN LEARN THE MEANING OF WORDS (MIT; 2001) has been widely acclaimed.

Industry Reviews

The book inside is an even better book than the one the title promises... Bloom is a superb writer. His gift is in writing beautifully but plainly, and anticipating everything a reader will need to know in order to appreciate the point he will ultimately make...it was a great pleasure to read * Globe and Mail (Canada) *
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...and making them seem second nature through vivid examples and lucid explanations -- Steven Pinker
Bloom is a serious professional who knows his stuff -- Michael Bywater * Literary Review *
Thoughtful and entertaining * Times Literary Supplement *
Bloom's book is different from the slew already out there about happiness. No advice here about how to become happier by organising your closets; Bloom is after something deeper than the mere stuff of feeling good -- Robin Heniq * The Scotsman *

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