Where We Live: On Pleasure
Human Pleasure Is A Complex Thing
The average American watches more than four hours of TV a day, abstract art sells for millions of dollars, people slow down their cars to watch the aftermath of horrible accidents and go to movies that make them cry.
Human pleasure is a complex thing. Yale psychologist Paul Bloom argues that it goes far beyond a simple sensory response. He argues that pleasure draws upon deep intuitions, that it is smart, that it is evolved, universal and inborn... And that the pleasure we derive from food or sex is very different from that of other creatures.
Coming up, a conversation with Bloom about his book “How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like”.
And we’ll talk to a writer who’s doing an experiment using narrative to transform insignificant objects into significant ones. He’s making some hard cash on ebay selling complete junk. But is it junk if it’s got a great story attached to it?
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The main argument here is that pleasure is deep. What matters most is not the world as it appears to our senses. Rather, the enjoyment we get from something derives from what we think that thing is.
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