The sweet spot : the pleasures of suffering and the search for meaning / Paul Bloom.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bloom, Paul, 1963- author.

Contributor:

Howard R. Jachman Memorial Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social psychology.

Pleasure.

Suffering--Psychological aspects.

Suffering.

Pain--Psychological aspects.

Pain.

Genre:

Self-help publications.

Physical Description:

xxvii, 272 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2021]

Summary:

Why do we so often seek out physical pain and emotional turmoil? We go to movies that make us cry, or scream, or gag. We poke at sores, eat spicy foods, immerse ourselves in hot baths, run marathons. Some of us even seek out pain and humiliation in sexual role-play. Where do these seemingly perverse appetites come from? Drawing on groundbreaking findings from psychology and brain science, The Sweet Spot shows how the right kind of suffering sets the stage for enhanced pleasure. Pain can distract us from our anxieties and help us transcend the self. Choosing to suffer can serve social goals; it can display how tough we are or, conversely, can function as a cry for help. Feelings of fear and sadness are part of the pleasure of immersing ourselves in play and fantasy and can provide certain moral satisfactions. And effort, struggle, and difficulty can, in the right contexts, lead to the joys of mastery and flow. But suffering plays a deeper role as well. We are not natural hedonists--a good life involves more than pleasure. People seek lives of meaning and significance; we aspire to rich relationships and satisfying pursuits, and this requires some amount of struggle, anxiety, and loss. Brilliantly argued, witty, and humane, Paul Bloom shows how a life without chosen suffering would be empty--and worse than that, boring.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. Suffer

2. Benign Masochism

3. An Unaccountable Pleasure

4. Struggle

5. Meaning

6. Sacrifice

7. Sweet Poison.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Howard R. Jachman Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

0062910566

9780062910561

OCLC:

1236192633

Publisher Number:

99988791707