How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like |  | Author: Paul Bloom
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
Buy New: $12.00
as of 9/10/2010 15:45 CDT details
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Seller: oldstudent44
Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 5,064
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 280
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1
ISBN: 0393066320
Dewey Decimal Number: 152.42
EAN: 9780393066326
ASIN: 0393066320
Publication Date: June 14, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Yale psychologist Paul Bloom presents a striking and thought-provoking new understanding of pleasure, desire, and value. The thought of sex with a virgin is intensely arousing for many men. The average American spends more than four hours a day watching television. Abstract art can sell for millions of dollars. People slow their cars to look at gory accidents, and go to movies that make them cry.
Pleasure is anything but straightforward. Our desires, attractions, and tastes take us beyond the symmetry of a beautiful face, the sugar and fat in food, or the prettiness of a painting. In How Pleasure Works, Yale University psychologist Paul Bloom draws on groundbreaking research to unveil the deeper workings of why we desire what we desire. Refuting the longstanding explanation of pleasure as a simple sensory response, Bloom shows us that pleasure is grounded in our beliefs about the deeper nature or essence of a given thing. This is why we want the real Rolex and not the knockoff, the real Picasso and not the fake, the twin we have fallen in love with and not her identical sister.
In this fascinating and witty account, Bloom draws on child development, philosophy, neuroscience, and behavioral economics in order to address pleasures noble and seamy, highbrow and lowbrow. Along the way, he gives us unprecedented insights into a realm of human psychology that until now has only been partially understood. 3 illustrations
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
 GREAT BOOK - FASCINATING, INFORMATIVE, & FUN June 3, 2010
Avid Reader
28 out of 32 found this review helpful
How Pleasure Works is a great book - it's entertaining and informative, and also surprising - as well as surprisingly funny. It examines different sources of pleasure - from food, to sex, to art, different forms of entertainment, and so on - and discusses recent findings in cognitive science (including a few of the author's own) that tell us about the surprisingly complex and sometimes deeply puzzling nature of human pleasure. The author argues that pleasure is not primarily a response to certain perceptual & sensory experiences, but instead has a significant cognitive component - what we think about something (whether or not we're correct) has a huge impact on how much pleasure we derive from it. The book contains many examples, which range from mildly surprising, to deeply puzzling, to just plain weird; some are very funny. The author has a fresh, engaging and easy style of writing, unlike what one finds in many science books for the lay public - this is enormously fun to read. Opening it up to any random page you'll almost certainly find yourself pulled in and getting caught up in the discussion - this book is hard to put down!
Pleasure Yourself with this Book June 4, 2010
Bruce Hood (UK)
19 out of 25 found this review helpful
Ok I know, this Review title is a cheap joke but given some of the content of this fabulous new book it does refer to some of the amazing ground that Bloom covers. Why do people do what they do for kicks? The answers are as bizarre as the behaviors Bloom addresses.
I am obviously a bit partisan having worked with Bloom in the past but How Pleasure Works is the perfect combination of intellectual stimulation and downright fun. This is because Bloom has the rare ability to make deep concepts accessible through vivid examples and his new book reflects this talent at his best.
There's some absolutely fascinating stuff on essentialism and his discussion of a concept you may not have encountered before "alief" is really thought provoking. The basic idea is that the pleasure preferences reflect mechanisms for simulating real and unreal worlds. In other worlds, imagination is at the root of what we find most pleasurable. But why not have the real thing? This is where the book makes some insightful conclusions that will surprise you.
So if you do not pleasure yourself by buying this book then imagine how empty your life will be without it.
Fun and Thought-Provoking June 13, 2010
Read-Only (New York City)
18 out of 24 found this review helpful
Are you into cannibalism, incest, and wearing Hitler's sweater? If so, this book is for you! Actually, if not, then this book is even more for you. Bloom asks why it is that things have the power to please or upset us beyond their objective properties. Hitler's sweater is the same as any other sweater--it isn't evil; it never did anything wrong. So, why would it be so creepy to pull it on? Would you rather be kissed by your favorite movie star or his or her identical twin? Most people of course want the movie star... but why? Somehow, the way we think about the person and the kiss is just as important as the way the person looks and the physical act. Bloom explores such examples through domains such as sex, art, family, and food.
"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.
A total pleasure June 3, 2010
Pleased Parent (New York, USA)
9 out of 17 found this review helpful
If you enjoyed books like *Blink* or *Stumbling on Happiness* or *How the Mind Works*, you'll find this book to be a total pleasure. It's engaging, interesting, readable, and full of fascinating ideas. Highly recommended!
A really really interesting book June 8, 2010
Steve Schragis (New York)
6 out of 15 found this review helpful
The ideas explained in How Pleasure Works were absolutely fascinating - and unlike any I've ever read before.
A completely original cutting edge book.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
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