Why Do We Like What We Like?
30th Jun 2011; 13:00
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RSA Thursday
What drives us to seek the pleasures we do?Are our desires fixed by our evolutionary past, or adapted by culture?
Evolutionary psychologist Paul Bloom visits the RSA to explore the range of human pleasures - universal and unique, real and imaginary - from food and sex to art and religion.
Drawing on the latest research from neuroscience, behavioural economics and philosophy, Bloom makes a powerful argument for essentialism at the crux of human pleasure, and shows why understanding pleasurable activities is so critical to comprehending the human mind.
Speaker: Paul Bloom, professor of psychology, Yale University
Chair: Claudia Hammond, presenter, All in the Mind, Mind Changer, State of Mind and Case Study on BBC Radio 4.
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