In November 2021, Bloom came to Intelligence Squared to discuss the findings contained in his new book The Sweet Spot, and explained how a life without chosen suffering would be empty –and perhaps worse than that, boring. People seek lives of meaning and significance we aspire to rich relationships and satisfying pursuits, and this inevitably involves struggle, anxiety and loss. We are not natural hedonists – a good life involves more than pleasure. And effort, struggle and difficulty can, in the right contexts, lead to the joys of mastery and flow.īut, as Bloom asserted, suffering plays a deeper role as well. Feelings of fear and sadness are part of the pleasure of immersing ourselves in play and fantasy and can provide certain moral satisfaction. Choosing to suffer can serve social goals it can display how tough we are or, conversely, it can function as a cry for help. His research addresses how children and adults understand the physical and social world, with special. Pain can distract us from our anxieties and help us transcend the self. Bloom is a professor of psychology at Yale University. Where do these seemingly perverse appetites come from?ĭrawing on groundbreaking findings from psychology and neuroscience, Yale University professor Paul Bloom believes he has discovered why the right kind of suffering sets the stage for enhanced pleasure.
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Some of us even seek out pain and humiliation for sexual pleasure. We poke at sores, eat spicy foods, immerse ourselves in hot baths, run marathons.
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He is the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of psychology and cognitive science at Yale University. Why do we so often seek out physical pain and emotional turmoil? We go to movies that make us cry, scream or gag. Paul Bloom is a Canadian American psychologist.