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Paul Bloom
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In politics and in society, we can use our reason to rise above our parochial natures. Too bad that our elected officials don't choose to do so more often.
- Paul Bloom
#Bad
#Politics
#Reason
#Rise
#Society
The enjoyment we get from something is powerfully influenced by what we think that thing really is. This is true for intellectual pleasures, such as the appreciation of paintings and stories, and it is true as well for pleasures that seem simpler and more animalistic, such as the satisfaction of hunger and lust.
- Paul Bloom
#Appreciation
#Lust
#Satisfaction
#True
Part of the satisfaction of tattling surely comes from showing oneself to adults as a good moral agent, a responsible being who is sensitive to right and wrong. But I would bet that children would tattle even if they could do so only anonymously. They would do it just to have justice done.
- Paul Bloom
#Children
#Good
#Justice
#Satisfaction
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.
- Paul Bloom
#Cry
#Nature
#Pain
#Suffering
#Way
Relying on the face might be human nature - even babies prefer to look at attractive people. But, of course, judging someone based on the geometry of his features is, from a moral and legal standpoint, no better than judging him based on the color of his skin.
- Paul Bloom
#Face
#Legal
#Look
#Nature
#Skin
Even in the most peaceful communities, an appetite for violence shows up in dreams, fantasies, sports, play, literature, movies and television. And, so long as we don't transform into angels, violence and the threat of violence - as in punishment and deterrence - is needed to rein in our worst instincts.
- Paul Bloom
#Dreams
#Literature
#Long
#Movies
#Sports
Empathy has some unfortunate features - it is parochial, narrow-minded, and innumerate. We're often at our best when we're smart enough not to rely on it.
- Paul Bloom
#Best
#Empathy
#Enough
#Often
#Smart
I think what a lot of fiction is, is the imagining of the worst so as to prepare ourselves.
- Paul Bloom
#Fiction
#I Think
#Prepare
#Think
#Worst
The irrationality of disgust suggests it is unreliable as a source of moral insight. There may be good arguments against gay marriage, partial-birth abortions and human cloning, but the fact that some people find such acts to be disgusting should carry no weight.
- Paul Bloom
#Find
#Gay
#Good
#Marriage
#People
More-radical scholars insist that an inherent clash exists between science and our long-held conceptions about consciousness and moral agency: if you accept that our brains are a myriad of smaller components, you must reject such notions as character, praise, blame, and free will.
- Paul Bloom
#Blame
#Character
#Free
#Praise
#Science
The real problem with natural selection is that it makes no intuitive sense. It is like quantum physics; we may intellectually grasp it, but it will never feel right to us.
- Paul Bloom
#Feel
#Never
#Physics
#Real
#Right
Periods of cooperation between political parties shouldn't be taken for granted; they are a stunning human achievement.
- Paul Bloom
#Achievement
#Human
#Periods
#Political
A sympathetic parent might see the spark of consciousness in a baby's large eyes and eagerly accept the popular claim that babies are wonderful learners, but it is hard to avoid the impression that they begin as ignorant as bread loaves.
- Paul Bloom
#Accept
#Bread
#Consciousness
#Eyes
#See
A growing body of evidence suggests that humans do have a rudimentary moral sense from the very start of life.
- Paul Bloom
#Body
#Evidence
#Life
#Sense
#Start
Most of us know nothing about constitutional law, so it's hardly surprising that we take sides in the Obamacare debate the way we root for the Red Sox or the Yankees. Loyalty to the team is what matters.
- Paul Bloom
#Debate
#Law
#Loyalty
#Nothing
#Way
Strong moral arguments exist for why we should often try to ignore stereotypes or override them. But we shouldn't assume they represent some irrational quirk of the unconscious mind. In fact, they're largely the consequence of the mind's attempt to make a rational decision.
- Paul Bloom
#Decision
#Ignore
#Mind
#Stereotypes
#Why
Too often, our concern for specific individuals today means neglecting crises that will harm countless people in the future.
- Paul Bloom
#Concern
#Future
#People
#Today
#Will
Our best hope for the future is not to get people to think of all humanity as family - that's impossible. It lies, instead, in an appreciation of the fact that, even if we don't empathize with distant strangers, their lives have the same value as the lives of those we love.
- Paul Bloom
#Best
#Family
#Future
#Hope
#Love
Humans are born with a hard-wired morality: a sense of good and evil is bred in the bone. I know this claim might sound outlandish, but it's supported now by research in several laboratories.
- Paul Bloom
#Evil
#Good And Evil
#Good
#Now
#Research
Humans are social beings, and we are happier, and better, when connected to others.
- Paul Bloom
#Better
#Connected
#Others
#Social
We are constituted so that simple acts of kindness, such as giving to charity or expressing gratitude, have a positive effect on our long-term moods. The key to the happy life, it seems, is the good life: a life with sustained relationships, challenging work, and connections to community.
- Paul Bloom
#Good
#Kindness
#Life
#Positive
#Work
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