If this is right, the pursuit of happiness becomes even trickier. Here's why they're wrong.Īn evolving approach to the science of pleasure suggests that each of us contains multiple selves-all with different desires, and all fighting for control. Scientists and philosophers argue that human beings are little more than puppets of their biochemistry. How caring for one person can foster baseless aggression towards another Scientific Faith Is Different From Religious Faith It’s an opportunity for the field to lead. Psychology's Replication Crisis Has a Silver Lining Why do people spend so many hours per day worrying, daydreaming, or focusing on anything but the present?įrom a moral standpoint, it makes the world worse. People are smarter than some psychologists would have us think. The Irrational Idea That Humans Are Mostly Irrational The technology isn’t the moral game-changer that some make it out to be. It’s Ridiculous to Use Virtual Reality to Empathize With Refugees Research has found that having children is terrible for quality of life-but the truth about what parenthood means for happiness is a lot more complicated. What Becoming a Parent Really Does to Your Happiness His latest book is The Sweet Spot: The Pleasures of Suffering and the Search for Meaning. He is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto and the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Yale University.

Paul Bloom is a contributing writer for The Atlantic.

Bloom against empathy