Paul Bloom
Paul Bloom
Paul Bloomis a Canadian American professor of psychology and cognitive science at Yale University. His research explores how children and adults understand the physical and social world, with special focus on language, morality, religion, fiction, and art...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionPsychologist
Date of Birth24 December 1963
CountryCanada
beliefs cultural eroded facts scientific soon spread
These facts are an embarrassment for those who see supernatural beliefs as a cultural anachronism, soon to be eroded by scientific discoveries and the spread of cosmopolitan values.
humans
Humans are social beings, and we are happier, and better, when connected to others.
imagining
I think what a lot of fiction is, is the imagining of the worst so as to prepare ourselves.
degrade enhance innate
We are naturally moral beings, but our environments can enhance - or, sadly, degrade - this innate moral sense.
cries cry distress expose human nature seems sees silent sort suffer suffering
One way to make a baby cry is to expose it to cries of other babies. There's sort of contagiousness to the crying. It's not just crying. We also know that if a baby sees another human in silent pain, it will distress the baby. It seems part of our very nature is to suffer at the suffering of others.
empathy stories moral
I'm really interested in the pleasure we get from stories and the pleasure we get from movies, and certainly the pleasure we get from virtual experiences. My complaint is against empathy as a moral guide. But as a source of pleasure, it can't be beat.
empathy zoom racist
Empathy zooms you in on an individual and, as a result, it's narrow, it's innumerate, it's racist, it's very biased.
empathy be-kind arguing
I argue that we should be kind, we should be compassionate, and we should definitely be reasonable and rational, but that empathy leads us astray.
teenage son media
I have two teenage sons, and they're both surviving, thriving, and having a great time, and they're always on social media.
bottles dropped grosses happiness naked natural people prescribed source tour yosemite
Some of the natural world is appealing, some of it is terrifying, and some of it grosses us out. Modern people don't want to be dropped naked into a swamp. We want to tour Yosemite with our water bottles and G.P.S. devices. The natural world is a source of happiness and fulfillment, but only when prescribed in the right doses.
countless crises future harm means neglecting people specific
Too often, our concern for specific individuals today means neglecting crises that will harm countless people in the future.
devout religion seems societies united
If you look within the United States, religion seems to make you a better person. Yet atheist societies do very well - better, in many ways, than devout ones.
cooperation human parties periods taken
Periods of cooperation between political parties shouldn't be taken for granted; they are a stunning human achievement.
attitudes change cultural drift either entirely feelings gut history human moral randomly result skirt stable systematic time
If our moral attitudes are entirely the result of nonrational factors, such as gut feelings and the absorption of cultural norms, they should either be stable or randomly drift over time, like skirt lengths or the widths of ties. They shouldn't show systematic change over human history. But they do.