How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like

This is a really interesting book packed with rich content well documented with 24 pages of references. There are very few pages that do not reference one or more other researches. So the critiques that say there is no science here puzzle me. Perhaps the problem is that the research is from the "soft" sciences: sociology, and psychology. If a reader thinks real science can only be physics, chemistry and biology, then they would not recognize this research. However, I am familiar with much of this research and it is solid.This book is written to be readable probably much as this college professor teaches the subject to his college students who have notoriously short attention spans. Every teacher knows these days you have to be half scholar and half entertainer if you are to get your students to tune in to you instead of their smart phones.I think Bloom does an excellent job of covering a wide spectrum of where we find our pleasures and showing you why. As an author myself I can see that one distraction from the content is the actual book design which includes the font, margins, spacing, chapter headings, paper and cover stock and the cover design. The cover artwork is okay but the paper stock of the cover and interior of the book are decidedly cheap which I think makes you take the content less seriously. Every woman knows "packaging counts" and it is true in book design as well. Even when a big publisher like W.W. Norton agree to publish your work, an author should fight for at least input on the book design.Despite the cheapy feel of the book in your hand, the content is well worth considering...it may make you think twice before you spurge on that special something you really cannot afford.

In this book, the author presents numerous intriguing studies on the subject of what we love, what we like, and what disgusts us. Despite the individual studies being quite interesting, the conclusions drawn from the book are very obvious. What we like tends to depend more on the context of our own beliefs than on the objects themselves at times. I probably wouldn’t recommend this book to those seeking some theoretical basis. It is more of a collection of various studies on the subject of pleasure, all gathered in one place.

How Pleasure Works, by Paul Bloom, reviewed by Dan Nicholas Dec. 11, 2013I like dangerous books that make you think. Paul Bloom from Yale in his How Pleasure Works has written a such a book. It's a frightful thought to pause, as he suggests, and take in just why one likes what one likes; loves what one loves.I was intrigued to track here the science of why I am passionate about certain topics or people or ideas and bored with others. Yes, it was fun pondering here why it is that certain thoughts and acts stir me; and why and when the reverse emotions are stirred in me, to; such as disgust or fear or dread. I enjoyed his questions on why it is we love or hate the idea of God. And just what is this thing we call awe?It's three in the morning and this professor has got me up reading about science. Takes a good writer and strong storyteller to involve the reader like this. His work reads like you're taking in a novel when what you are really doing is reading about basic science on the mind and the human condition of how we think and feel and why.The good developmental psychologist Dr. Bloom might be an ivory tower professor in some eyes; but for me in this work he was more an observant student of two year olds. I liked how he seemed unashamed as an academic to be listed as one more philosopher awed by mystery in the universe. I liked this book. A science page turner is rare; maybe he's giving Mary Roach a run for her spot as top science writer?The hedonist in me also loved his focus on pleasure. And I loved how my bone doctor specialist last week paused when I went to see him about my ailing elbow and I watched him grab this paperback from my lap for a quick jacket read--How Pleasure Works--before dealing with my pains.No shock we are pretty much all pleasure hounds. But perhaps only the brave or geekish might be pulled out from the crowd as those likely to take the time and look under the hood at just why we like what we like. And yet I found his mind fascinating as he worked us though questions like the odd connection with pleasure and pain. Why one guy visits and pays $300 hour in Seattle for a Dominatrix for a simple ass whipping and another man pays $3M for Mark McGuire's 7th home run ball. The success of this title shows a lot of us out here want to muse some over all the chicken and egg questions about how and why pleasure moves us.I loved his observations on what he calls "essentialism"; how we all seem to gravitate to the Real Deal as opposed to the fake; be it in matters of love or art or sex or theology or anything that revs us up rather than leaves us cold.Ever been in love and wondered why it was the glance of the brunette and not the blond that yanked you from the sidelines at the party? This book's for you. It got me thinking why I was disturbed once to find that the woman I was falling for had undergone a face lift the year before and even copped to photo shopping the face lift pic before hooking me on Match.com. Which face was real? Which women? Did it matter now that I was hooked? Yes, why do these things matter at all. Or not? Well, ask like that and this is worth your time to read. Or if you just love science and a good time. Or just love asking why? You will love this book.

Great book for anyone interested in behavioural psychology.

Often I just didn't get where he was going and sometimes the book could go on for pages without an interesting idea. His previous books on child development were much cooler. He's really good at describing (and carrying out) experiments.

that was a good one.good onegood onegood onegood onewas good good onegood one.. good

Having listened insatiably to Paul Bloom in his captivating Yale course to Introductory Psychology (available free on iTunes and YouTube), when I tracked down his literature on Amazon, I had to buy this book. I do not regret the purchase whatsoever. The man writes with incredible lucidity and wit, and he conveys his points effectively until the end. 'How Pleasure Works' really made me think twice about why I get so much pleasure from certain activities, and, more importantly, why others get pleasure from things that I might personally judge as unappealing.This book was full of insight, which is appropriate since it is psychology, and I can recommend to anybody who has the merest interest in understanding human-nature better. I am just about to begin Bloom's 'Descartes' Baby' about childhood development and its implications on adulthood, and I cannot describe my excitement at the prospect! Bloom really is the most accessible popular science writer of his generation.'How Pleasure Works' was impossible to put down. It reads as grippingly as good fiction, but better since I felt on every page I was learning something new; having my mind further and further prized open by his incredible insights. Bloom's writing style is deliciously smooth and accessible, making this book suitable for those who would usually shy away from science literature. The humour present in this book definitely allows it to transcend any stereotypes that science is for bores. Arguably, if more science writers delivered their arguments in the humour-laced packages that Bloom does, the modern world would be brighter, more enlightened, and more tolerant.In short, Bloom is an utter joy to read and to listen to: may he too provide you with the joy and enlightenment he has endowed upon me.

A well-written book, not in academese, nor too colloquial. It goes at a nice jog-trot through questions I found interesting. Unfortunately it has suffered from politically-correct imbecility, by which I mean references to hyothetical (nonexistent) persons. The first imbecility is use of the clumsy and distracting 'he or she' , because of a refusal to accept 'he' as either neuter or gender-irrelevant. The second imbecility is use of 'she'; which apparently is allowed, even though 'he' is not. This silliness might not be the author' responsibility - the manuscript was perhaps tampered with after it left his or her possession.