How pleasure works : the new science of why we like what we like

“Engaging, evocative. . . . [Bloom] is a supple, clear writer, and his parade of counterintuitive claims about pleasure is beguiling.”—NPRWhy is an artistic masterpiece worth millions more than a convincing forgery? Pleasure works in mysterious ways, as Paul Bloom reveals in this investigation of what we desire and why. Drawing on a wealth of surprising studies, Bloom investigates pleasures noble and seamy, lofty and mundane, to reveal that our enjoyment of a given thing is determined not by what we can see and touch but by our beliefs about that thing’s history, origin, and deeper nature. Humans have an incredible spectrum of emotions and feelings that can be felt on any given day. The book, How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like by Paul Bloom, shows us just that. He introduces the reader to a realm of psychology that has been understudied called cognitive psychology. Mr. Bloom, who has a PhD in Cognitive Psychology, takes the reader on a rather interesting, odd, robust, and sometimes even taboo ride into the reasons why humans react happily and enjoy pleasure in some things in life while others not. He introduces food, sex, art, and different forms of human entertainment as the multiple variations of pleasure we experience. The general direction of the book argues that pleasure is not just a response to certain stimuli, but instead your thoughts are mainly responsible for how much pleasure we actually get from that stimulus. Mr. Bloom has a very engaging, intriguing, and curious writing style that explains some very tough subjects and makes them more accessible. He provides many great examples in this book, including the results of some of his own research in the field. I highly recommend this book to anyone slightly interested in how and why we get pleasure out of the simple things in life, or even the most emotional and/or physically challenging things. Check this book out! "Engaging, evocative...[Bloom] is a supple, clear writer, and his parade of counterintuitive claims about pleasure is beguiling." —NPR Why is an artistic masterpiece worth millions more than a convincing forgery? Pleasure works in mysterious ways, as Paul Bloom reveals in this investigation of what we desire and why. Drawing on a wealth of surprising studies, Bloom investigates pleasures noble and seamy, lofty and mundane, to reveal that our enjoyment of a given thing is determined not by what we can see and touch but by our beliefs about that thing's history, origin, and deeper nature. 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 The essence of pleasure -- Foodies -- Bedtricks -- Irreplaceable -- Performance -- Imagination -- Safety and pain -- Why pleasure matters.